CHENNAI: The State Executive Committee meeting of All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) condemned the renaming of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) as Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajivika Mission Grameen (VB G RAM G) and expressed fear that it would fail to benefit the poor and declared a statewide protest on December 18 and burn the copies of the union government order.

The AIAWU State Executive Committee meeting was held in Karur, chaired by the Gandarvakottai MLA and State president M Chinnadurai and General Secretary Amirthalingam in which it was observed that the union government has been supporting only the corporate firms and failing to help the poor.

The meeting condemned the renaming of MGNREGS with certain conditions. “This is a deliberate act of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the AIAWU continues to oppose the move and demand it be withdrawn,” the meeting observed.

The meeting resolved to organise a statewide protest scheduled on December 18, in which the union members would burn the copies of the recommendation for renaming of MGNREGS, and the union would seek the support of the general public from the state.

The meeting has also urged the state government to disburse loans to the farmers through Cooperative Societies with minimal interest.

The meeting also stressed that the housing patta should be distributed to the people who have been fighting for several years.

The meeting also opposed the government's removal of the residents who have been residing on the temple lands across the state and recommended identifying alternate land to relocate them.