“Opposition’s double standards are not a good sign,” says Agriculture Minister.

Recently, during the winter session of Parliament, the name of MGNREGA was changed and renamed as G-RAM-G. Following the removal of the name of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, from the REGA scheme, debates, analyses, and protests have been taking place across the country by opposition political parties.

On Thursday, State Agriculture Minister Ratan Lal Nath highlighted various aspects of the new law at a press conference. Presenting statistics of the REGA scheme during the seven years of BJP rule, the minister said that over the last seven years, the state has received ₹7,801 crore under REGA. In contrast, during the final seven years of the previous Left Front government, the state received ₹6,490 crore under the same scheme.

He further stated that in the last seven years, 8,10,000 assets have been created under REGA in the state, whereas during the last seven years of the Left government, 6,67,332 assets were created. Additionally, over the past seven years, ₹5,332 crore has been paid as wages to rural workers under REGA, compared to ₹4,240 crore during the last seven years of the previous government.

The minister also informed that the state currently has 6.56 lakh job cards, with 10.20 lakh REGA workers. He added that under the new G-RAM-G Act, the number of guaranteed workdays has been increased from 100 days to 125 days. For Tripura and other northeastern states, the Central Government will bear 90% of the expenditure, while the State Government will contribute the remaining 10%.

Responding to a question from journalists regarding the reactions of opposition parties, Agriculture Minister Ratan Lal Nath said, “Serve the people—that itself is God. The Prime Minister wants development of the last person in society. The opposition is only making statements because they have no real issues. Earlier, they demanded an increase in REGA workdays. We have increased the workdays, and now they are opposing it. This is nothing but double standards, and such double standards are not a good sign.”

On the occasion of the enactment of the new law, Minister Ratan Lal Nath congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan during the press conference.