Once termed 'living monument of UPA's failures', NREGA gets Modi's boost

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, declaring the fifth and final tranche of the Centre's mega economic package in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, allocated an additional Rs 40,000 crore to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a scheme Prime Minister Narendra Modi once described as "living monument of Congress-led UPA's failures."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Modi on Monday for his "U-turn" on the MGNREGA scheme, and thanked him for understanding its vision and allocating an additional budget of Rs 40,000 crore for it.

The decision to allocate this amount over and above the Rs 61,000 crore budgeted earlier comes at a time when the nationwide lockdown has forced hundreds of thousands of migrant labourers to move back to their home states. Thousands of men and women, with children on their shoulders, and meagre belongings, have been trudging on highways to get to their homes after the lockdown brought all the economic activities in the cities to a standstill. The reverse migration has been defined as the largest movement of people across India's many states since the partition.

In February 2015, nine months after he took over the duties of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi stood in the Parliament to respond to the motion of thanks on the President's address at the start of the budget session. The Prime Minister spoke on whether or not his government would continue the MGNREGA -- Congress party's flagship programme guaranteeing 100 days of manual work every year to at least one member of every village household.

With a smirk on his face, Modi asked: "Do you think I will disband the scheme? My political wisdom does not allow me to do it. This is a living monument of your failure to tackle poverty in 60 years."

He continued: "You had to send people to dig ditches and pay them. With song and dance and drum beat, I will continue with the scheme."