NDA allies flag concerns but say won’t confront

NEW new delhi: Bharatiya Janata company’s NDA partners, the Telugu Desam company and the Janata Dal United feature verbalised some concerns about the proposed Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G Ram G) Bill, but opted to not take a confrontational position on it said leaders aware of the details.Leaders of both parties, part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said the proposed bill that weeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) will have their support, but the government has been informed about their concerns.“We are not against the bill, but there are challenges that the states will face vis-a-vis increased spending. Our state has been seeking additional funds for various infrastructure projects, there are newer employment generation schemes that need more help from the centre and in the past the union government has been allocating more funds, so hope this concern will be addressed,” said a senior JDU lawmaker.The leader said the government’s intent was to streamline the scheme.The TDP too has expressed reservation about the increased share of state’s spending on the scheme. The new bill proposes the fund sharing pattern between the Centre and state governments will be 60:40 for the states and UTs with legislature but 90:10 for the northeastern states, Himalayan states (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir), and Union territories.TDP MP, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu said, “ Over the years there has been consultations with various stakeholders, who said MNREGA needs to be bettered and amended. Based on these views inside and outside Parliament changes have been made, such as increasing the work days from 100 to 125 and most importantly focussing on areas…there are a lot of places where we saw doubling of work has been happening. At the same time giving freedom to states to do whatever work they want to do.”On the increased financial burden he said, Andhra Pradesh government is hopeful of the centre helping the state out.“AP as everyone knows has been cash strapped since 2014, in the last one and a half years we have been working with the government on various schemes, and the union government has come forward and helped us when we have asked for it…so, we expect the same to happen on this also,” he said.Telugu Desam Party spokesperson N Vijaya Kumar said while his party would broadly welcome the new version of NREGA law, it would request the Centre to reconsider the clause that the state should bear 40% of the wage burden.“For a state like Andhra Pradesh, which is in a precarious financial position, it would be difficult to bear 40% of the expenditure incurred on the employment guarantee scheme,” he said.Reacting to the concerns of the allies, a senior government functionary said, the suggestions and inputs will be taken into consideration. “We have already explained that the new structure is balanced and sensitive to state capacity. And states can request extra support during disasters,” the functionary said.