New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) The Congress on Thursday accused the Modi government of trying to "crush" the poor and weaker sections of society by reducing the MGNREGA budget and said the employment guarantee scheme had helped a large number of people during Covid times.

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Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the BJP government has reduced the allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from Rs 1.11 lakh crore to Rs 73,000 crore.

"The Modi government has reduced the MGNREGA budget by nearly Rs 38,000 crore. It reduced the budget allocation from Rs 1.11 lakh crore to Rs 73,000 crore. Now, even out of the Rs 73,000 crore budget allocation, Rs 63,000 crore has been spent, and some states do not have the money under the scheme," he told reporters.

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"There is a conspiracy to crush the poor and weaker sections of society, who do not have jobs and money. They are also conspiring to make them bonded and give their money to big industrialists instead," Kharge said.

The government is reducing budgets and not providing them employment, he said.

Kharge said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made fun of the opposition and the Congress, but the same MGNREGA helped a large number of people during Covid times when people lost their jobs.

The prime minister claims there is no shortage of budget and where has the money collected through taxes on petrol and diesel gone, he asked.

The Congress leader said in November, only 11.66 crore man days were provided and hardly 50 per cent people got work.

Instead of giving 100 days guarantee of work, the poor are getting only four or five days of work in a month, he alleged.

In 2020-21, on an average only 26 days of work was provided to the poor under MGNREGA, he added citing official figures.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)