Trivedi, Shrinate trade barbs over MGNREGA, elections

The Centre's proposed overhaul of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) emerged as the flashpoint at the India News Manch conclave on Wednesday, as BJP Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi and Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate engaged in a sharp and often heated exchange over the future of the flagship rural employment scheme.

- ANJALI SINGH

Shrinate accused the government of weakening a demand-driven legal guarantee of work by imposing new conditions and shifting the financial burden onto states, arguing that the changes went beyond a mere renaming of the scheme. She said MGNREGA had strengthened rural livelihoods and proved crucial during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and warned that diluting its core framework would hurt the rural poor.