Union Minister for Rural Development, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan criticised the Karnataka Government on Thursday, accusing it of including lies in Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s customary address to the joint session of the legislature.
“The governor’s address had such lies that it could not be read. Whatever it (the state government) wanted the governor to say about MGNREGA was a lie. Congress is a machine of lies,” he told a news conference in Bengaluru. He also accused the Congress-led Government of pointing fingers at the Union Government to hide its failures in the state.
The Union minister was in the city to hold a workshop for BJP legislators, district presidents, and other leaders on the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G) scheme. This came ahead of the special discussion scheduled by the state Government on the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which it wants restored.
Defending VB-G RAM G, Chouhan said that fund allocations under the new scheme were higher than those under the MGNREGA and that the new Act would curb corruption. “(Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah is unable to understand the law due to his tussle with (Deputy Chief Minister D K) Shivakumar,” he alleged.
On complaints about an increase in the state’s share of the funds—from a 90:10 ratio under the MGNREGA to a 60:40 ratio under VB-G RAM G—Chouhan said that all central schemes had the fund-sharing ratio of 60:40.
The first day of the joint session of the legislature, where a special discussion on the MGNREGA repeal was being held, witnessed a showdown between the governor and the Government: he read only two lines of the speech prepared by the Cabinet and walked off. Next week, both Houses of the legislature will discuss the subject.
