our years after it was introduced, the government has decided to rename its flagship rural employment programme after Mahatma Gandhi.
PM Manmohan Singh announced on Friday that the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) would now be called Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act. A government scheme is being named after the Mahatma after a long time.
The government was earlier planning to name the scheme after one of the Nehru-Gandhi family members, initial inputs suggested. But that decision was changed. “NREGA has been aptly named after the Father of the Nation as he had always held the concept of Gram Swaraj in high esteem,” said the PM during a celebration on the 50 years of Panchayati Raj in India.
This decisionis not without political consideration since many non-Congress ruling states were trying to take credit for the scheme because of its outreach and the huge funds allotted to it.