MGNREGA row: EPS mum on Centre strangling rural lifeline, alleges CM Stalin

MADURAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday accused the BJP-led Centre of diluting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and criticised AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for remaining silent on the issue, underscoring the significance of DMK's statewide protest planned on December 24 over the issue.

Addressing a welfare distribution programme in Tirunelveli, Stalin said the Centre was “gradually winding down” MGNREGA, forcing Tamil Nadu and other states to shoulder a bigger share of the financial burden. He termed the move a “historic blunder” and alleged that the Union government had abdicated its responsibility towards the poor. The DMK, he said, would protest across the State against the Centre’s handling of the scheme.

Taking potshots at Palaniswami, the Chief Minister said the Leader of the Opposition, who projects himself as a farmer, had chosen to remain mute on the MGNREGA issue and was prepared to back the NDA’s decisions despite opposition from farmers.

Stalin also criticised the BJP government for keeping the Adichanallur museum project on hold and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to visit archaeological museums at Keezhadi and Tirunelveli to understand the antiquity of Tamil civilisation.

Highlighting the performance of the “Dravidian model” government, the DMK president cited welfare measures such as the Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to women heads of households and the free bus travel scheme for women launched in 2021. In Tirunelveli district alone, he said, about 1.83 lakh women benefited from free bus travel daily. These initiatives, he claimed, had improved livelihoods and made Tamil Nadu a model for other States.

Despite what he described as hostility from the BJP-led Centre, Stalin asserted that Tamil Nadu had emerged as the country’s leading State in terms of growth and expressed confidence that the DMK-led front would return to power in 2026, promising further development under “Dravidian model 2.0”.