HYDERABAD: Finance minister T. Harish Rao on Tuesday accused the Centre of diluting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), adversely affecting the livelihood of labourers working under the scheme.
In a letter addressed to Union tourism minister G. Kishan Reddy on Tuesday, Harish Rao came down heavily on the recent circular issued by the NDA government on MNREGA scheme stating that this would leave many workers jobless in all states including Telangana.
He expressed concern that about 57.46 lakh workers who held job cards under MNREGA scheme would be adversely affected with the new restrictions imposed by the Centre.
He alleged that the NDA government was trying to abolish MNREGA scheme and the latest circular issued by it was a step in this direction.
Harish found fault with the Centre for imposing cuts in funds to MNREGA in the Union Budget 2022-23 by making allocations of just Rs 73,000 crore, and said that Rs 18,380 crore would go for clearing wage arrears of previous year.
"The Centre's latest circular is against the interests of Telangana. Normally MNREGA works are undertaken mostly during the summer season. The circular asks workers to upload their photographs while participating in MNREGA works before 10 am once and again at 5 pm. How is it possible to work for eight hours under heat conditions in summer?" Harish asked.
Harish also expressed anger at the Centre for neglecting the resolution passed by Telangana Legislative Assembly seeking to link MNREGA scheme with agriculture activities.
