𝐔𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝: 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝟒𝟓-𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐆𝐍𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐀

The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) on January 8 launched a 45-day statewide agitation against the repeal and renaming of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), alleging that the Centre has dismantled a critical rights-based livelihood programme for rural India.

The agitation was formally launched at Congress Bhavan by AICC secretary and Member of Parliament Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, who also chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Employment and Panchayati Raj. The programme was attended by NPCC president and Lok Sabha MP S Supongmeren Jamir, working president Khriedi Theunuo, and several senior party leaders.

Addressing party workers, Ulaka criticised the manner in which the new Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission–Gramin (VBG RAM-G) Act was passed in Parliament, describing it as undemocratic and rushed. He alleged that the legislation was introduced and cleared without adequate debate, effectively replacing MGNREGA and diluting its core rights-based provisions.

Ulaka further accused the Centre of systematically weakening MGNREGA over the past 11 years through delayed wage payments, chronic underfunding and denial of material costs. Referring to Nagaland, he claimed that material costs amounting to around Rs 103 crore have remained pending with the Centre for the last nine months, while wage payments to workers have also been delayed. He also alleged that Nagaland continues to have one of the lowest MGNREGA wage rates in the country, with no revision for several years.

Outlining the protest roadmap, Ulaka said the 45-day agitation would include press conferences across the state, symbolic fasts, panchayat-level outreach programmes, submission of memoranda to district authorities, and rallies aimed at mobilising public opinion in defence of the employment guarantee scheme.