State Cabinet decides to approach Supreme Court seeking continuation of rural employment guarantee scheme.
BENGALURU
The Karnataka government has decided to move the Supreme Court over the Centre’s delay in issuing a notification regarding the implementation of the proposed VB-G RAM G Act and the uncertainty surrounding the continuation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA). The decision was taken during the State Cabinet meeting.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Law Minister H. K. Patil said the Cabinet felt it was necessary in the larger public interest to continue the rural employment guarantee scheme until alternative arrangements are put in place by the Union Government. He said the state would seek permission from the Supreme Court to prepare an action plan for continuing the scheme.
Patil alleged that the Centre had neither issued a notification for the implementation of the new Act nor provided clarity on alternative arrangements. “The Centre’s approach amounts to suppressing the constitutional rights of state governments. This is a crucial welfare programme for rural areas and lakhs of poor families depend on it,” he said.
He further stated that although the Centre had issued a circular permitting continuation of pending works under MGNREGA, no funds had been released for those projects. The minister also pointed out that the Union Government had advised states to take precautionary measures in anticipation of poor rainfall but had failed to address the livelihood concerns of rural workers. “The Centre has not thought about the poor in this situation. Hence, the state government has decided to knock on the doors of the court,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also discussed the final report submitted by the State Education Policy Commission chaired by Prof. Sukhdev Thorat. According to Patil, the recommendations were reviewed in detail during the Cabinet meeting, where Prof. Thorat made a presentation on the proposed state education policy. The Cabinet decided to constitute a Cabinet Subcommittee to examine the commission’s recommendations and suggest measures for implementation. The subcommittee will study the 97 recommendations submitted in the report and recommend which proposals should be accepted by the government. Officials said the Chief Minister would soon announce the composition of the Cabinet Subcommittee