Amid Opposition Walkout, Karnataka Assembly Passes Resolution Against VB-G RAM G Act

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution against the VB-GRAM G Act amidst a protest by the Opposition BJP and JDS MLAs opposing the resolution.

Karnataka is the second state to pass such a resolution after Punjab. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah moved the resolution on Tuesday, which was passed with voice votes even as Opposition members were on a dharna in the well of the house seeking the resignation of Excise Minister R B Thimmapur over graft charges.

The resolution demanded scrapping of the VB-G RAM G Act and restoration of the MGNREGA Act, claiming the new employment guarantee scheme was anti-poor, anti-working class and anti-panchayat raj system. "MGNREGA, which enabled rural asset creation and self-reliance of the poor, must be restored in its original form as it existed earlier, and this house urges the Union Government to do so," the Chief Minister said.

Siddaramaiah said MGNREGA was the lifeline for the rural poor and had become an inseparable part of them. "By diluting this Act, the Centre has cheated the rural poor," he said and accused the Centre of enacting the new employment guarantee scheme unilaterally without discussing or consulting the state governments, much against the spirit of federalism.

Siddaramaiah said the new Act has taken away the employment rights of the poor and also the powers of gram panchayats in deciding works to be taken in their jurisdiction.

"The new Act even violates the ‘right to life’ guaranteed under Article 12 of the Constitution and goes against the spirit of the 73rd Amendment by curtailing powers of gram panchayats besides undermining (Mahatma) Gandhiji's Gram Swaraj concept," he added.

The Chief Minister also raised objections to the funding pattern in the new Act. "Under MGNREGA, the Centre bore the entire wage cost for 100 days. But the new Act makes states bear 40% of the wage cost. This puts states, which are already spread thin financially, under additional stress," he said.

The BJP opposed the resolution arguing that the resolution should not be projected as a demand of the Assembly but that of a Congress party. "We oppose this resolution. The Government has brought this resolution only to hide from its failures and corruption," said Opposition Leader R Ashoka.

He said the VB-G RAM G Act has been very transparent and seeks to plug loopholes in the MGNREGA, which was riddled with a lot of corruption. Later, all the opposition MLAs walked out of the house even as the resolution was passed through a voice vote.

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