The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, an umbrella organisation of workers’ unions from across the country, on Friday called off its march against the Modi government’s Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Bill, after the Delhi Police denied permission for it.
The protest was slated to be held on Friday at Jantar Mantar, the designated site for such gatherings in the national capital. The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha had given the call for it on Thursday.
However, the police wrote to the organisers the same day, warning them against going ahead with the protest. They said that any violation of its directive could lead to legal action.
Scroll has seen a copy of this letter, which was signed by Anand Kumar Mishra, one of the additional deputy commissioners of police in the New Delhi district. The letter said that the organisers had failed to give the authorities 10 days’ advance notice about the protest.
But social scientist Rajendran Narayanan, a member of the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, took strong exception to this reasoning.
“It takes two days to repeal an Act that has been in force for 20 years, but we civilians need to give 10 days of notice to register our protest,” he remarked to Scroll. “The right to work has been repealed and the right to protest is being denied.”
Narayanan was referring to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which the Narendra Modi-led government has replaced with the VB-G RAM G Bill. Despite Opposition protests, the bill, which was introduced in Parliament only on Tuesday, was passed in both houses on Thursday, just a day before the end of the Winter Session.
The decision has stoked concern in India’s civil society, given the far-reaching impact the employment guarantee scheme has on rural livelihoods. Activists have criticised the bill for effectively upending the rights-based framework that formed the bedrock of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which the United Progressive Alliance government had introduced back in 2005.
MGNREGA guaranteed a minimum of 100 days’ work to every rural household in India annually, which was to be paid for by the Union government. Though the VB-G RAM G bill replacing MGNREGA ostensibly proposes to increase this guarantee to 125 days of work, experts worry about its fine print.
The new law partially shifts the financial burden of the policy to the states while also expanding the Centre’s discretionary power when it comes to its implementation. This, activists say, is a significant departure from the demand-based, decentralised nature of its predecessor.
“There are 26 crore registered workers under NREGA [shortened form of MGNREGA] in the country,” Narayanan added. “You are changing their destiny in three days. How can you decide something so significant like this?”
On Friday, despite the Delhi Police denying them permission, Narayanan and a few other NREGA Sangharsh Morcha members gathered to protest at Jantar Mantar, where they were joined by five Opposition MPs. The police eventually forced them to leave.
“NREGA Sangharsh Morcha condemns such high-handedness and asserts its intention to continue protesting against the repeal of MGNREGA at every opportunity,” the organisation said in a press statement issued later. “We appeal to all concerned organisations and citizens to join the country-wide wave of protests against this attack on the right to work and right to protest.”
Calls and messages to the deputy commissioner as well as the additional deputy commissioner of police in the New Delhi district went unanswered. This story will be updated if and when they respond.
The denial of permission for the protest came just five weeks after the Delhi Police allegedly pressured the organisers of a protest against the hazardous levels of air pollution in the city to call off their stir. At that time, Scroll had reported that police officials had called the organisers and threatened to file first information reports against them.
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