Central Government Has Ended MNREGA By Renaming & Altering It, Says Senior Lawyer Prashant Bhushan In Latur

Latur: Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Sunday said the government has ended the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme by renaming it. Not just the name has been changed; the scheme itself has been completely altered.

Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan was speaking to a reporter while visiting Latur on Sunday to attend an event in the evening.

He further raised serious concerns over what he termed a systematic attempt by the Union government to curb freedom of speech and weaken democratic institutions in the country.

Speaking on freedom of speech. He said that the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act has placed dangerous restrictions on free expression. “Under this law, even naming a person requires prior permission; otherwise, it is treated as a violation of privacy. If a journalist or activist exposes corruption, they are expected to first seek consent from the corrupt person. This itself shows the intent behind the law,” he said.

Bhushan further pointed out that the sedition law has been effectively brought back through the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). “If you speak against the government, you can now be booked under this new version of sedition. This is extremely alarming,” he warned.

He alleged that critics of the government are routinely targeted using stringent laws such as the UAPA and PMLA. “Those who raise their voices are being implicated in one case or another. The government is imposing multiple layers of restrictions on free speech and, to a large extent, is succeeding,” Bhushan said.

While acknowledging that dissent has not been completely silenced, Bhushan noted that independent digital voices are under pressure. “There are still many independent YouTubers and journalists who criticise the government, but their posts are often deleted after pressure on social media companies. The attempt to end freedom of speech is very clear, even if it has not fully succeeded yet,” he added.

Emphasising the importance of free expression, Bhushan said democracy cannot survive without it.

“Freedom of speech is the backbone of democracy. If people cannot openly point out what is right and what is wrong, democracy collapses. What remains then is nothing but dictatorship, which has very dangerous consequences,” he cautioned.

Bhushan also criticised changes made to the MNREGA scheme, stating that it has been fundamentally altered. “Earlier, MNREGA was a right-driven scheme. Where at least one person from every rural family had the fundamental right to get at least 100 days of work at minimum wages. They would get money from the government,” he explained.

He said the scheme has now been converted into a budget-driven programme. “The Centre will now decide how much money to allocate and how much each state will get. Earlier, 90 per cent of the funding came from the Centre; now even that share is uncertain. The government wanted to end MNREGA, and they have almost done so by changing its very character,” Bhushan alleged.