Congress to hold statewide padyatra to ‘Save MGNREGA’ before special assembly session from Jan 26 to Feb 2 in Karnataka, says DK Shivakumar

MANGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday announced that the state government will hold a special session of the Assembly to discuss issues related to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Speaking to the media in Mangaluru, Shivakumar said the Congress will also organise padayatras across all Assembly constituencies from January 26 to February 2, to safeguard the rural employment scheme.

“To save MGNREGA, AICC has planned one programme. However, as far as Karnataka is concerned, we have planned a different programme. We are calling a special session of the Assembly on MGNREGA. We will see that in every Assembly constituency a padayatara is organised to save MGNREGA”, the Deputy CM said.

He said that with the padayatra, the party wants to inform people of how they will be affected if MGNREGA is replaced with the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G Ram G) law.

#WATCH | Mangaluru | Karnataka Dy CM DK Shivakumar says, “We are calling a special session of the Assembly on MGNREGA. We will see that in every Assembly constituency a ‘padyatra’ is organised to save MGNREGA.” pic.twitter.com/GePmUCDElI

— ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2026

Providing details, Shivakumar said the padayatras will be held from January 26 to February 2 in every Assembly segment across Karnataka. Each padyatra will cover a distance of five to 10 kilometres and will involve panchayat members and labourers.

“Now, I think, they want to kill this entire project. So we want to encourage all stakeholders. We will call them, educate them. We want to see that the act will be rolled back,” he told the reporters.

In December 2025, Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM-G Bill) during the Winter Session of Parliament. The government has proposed Rs 1,51,282 crore to be allocated for the scheme, meant to facilitate employment opportunities and comprehensive development of villages.

The Bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work. As per Section 22 of the Bill, the fund-sharing pattern between the Central Government and the State Governments will be 60:40, while for the North Eastern States, Himalayan States, and Union Territories (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir), it will be 90:10.

Section 6 of the Bill allows the state governments to notify in advance, a period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting. (ANI)