Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state-run job scheme 'Karmashree' will be named after Mahatma Gandhi.
Mamata Banerjee stated that the removal of Gandhi’s name from MGNREGA fills her with “deep shame” and therefore she announced that she will name a state-run scheme after the Father of the Nation.
Speaking at an event on Thursday, she questioned, “I feel ashamed that they decided to drop Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the NREGA scheme. Are we now forgetting even the Father of the Nation?”
“I can’t blame anybody except myself, because I belong to this country and we have been forgetting even our Father of the Nation. So, we will rename our Karmashree scheme after Gandhiji. This scheme will be changed to Mahatma Gandhi’s scheme. We have already created lots of workdays under ‘Karmashree’ which we are running with our own resources. Even if central funds are stopped, we will ensure people get work, we are not beggars. We have been providing 75 to 100 days of work to poor people under this scheme,” she said.
Mamata Banerjee’s announcement came amid the row over tabling a bill in the Parliament proposing to rename the existing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G Bill 2025.
It may be mentioned that, Karmashree was launched by the Mamata Banerjee government in 2024 with the aim to provide at least 50-day jobs to people working under the 100-day-guaranteed MGNREGA.
She added, “If you do not give proper respect to Mahatma Gandhi, we will give that respect. We know how to respect Gandhiji, Netaji, Rabindranath Tagore, Babasaheb Ambedkar and many more of our great leaders and polymaths.”
Banerjee also announced that her government would lay the foundation stone of Durga Angan in New Town on December 29, at an estimated cost of around Rs 262 crore.