New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on Thursday ruled out any changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Replying to a debate in Parliament, prompted by fears that the NDA government was planning to dilute the marquee programme initiated by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), rural development minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said that the only change is that there would be a greater focus on the 2,500 most backward blocks.

“This doesn’t mean that the scheme will not be implemented in the remaining 4,000 blocks. It is not fair to say that while the opposition parties are fighting for the rights of the poor, the government was not working for the benefit of poor," said Singh.

The rural employment guarantee scheme was launched by the UPA to tremendous electoral advantage, and fears grew after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA’s election victory this year that the new government would dilute the provisions of the programme.

Moving a calling attention motion demanded by the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja asked the government why it was planning to restrict the programme to backward areas.

“MGNREGA was enacted during the first term of the UPA government and Left parties were also a part of the common minimum programme of the government. The government has indicated that it is diluting the scheme and restricting the scheme. This is a serious situation because unemployment is the most burning issue of the country which can create social unrest," Raja said.

Raja pointed out that the chief ministers of several states, including those ruled by the BJP, had written letters to the rural development ministry asking for more funds for the scheme. He said they included the chief ministers of West Bengal, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana and Jharkhand.

Former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh also argued on similar lines. “Is it true that MGNREGA will be restricted to 2,500 blocks? What will happen to the remaining 4,000 blocks? It should not be restricted," said Ramesh, who is a Congress party member of Parliament.

Even before the start of the winter session of Parliament, the Congress-led opposition parties, including Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), had expressed concern over the statements made by some members of the BJP that the government was considering restricting MGNREGA to the most backward areas.

“If the government tries to dilute the act then it will defeat the purpose of creating the scheme. People will be forced to migrate from their villages in search of work, which can lead to suicide. The decision to provide 100 days of employment is not enough and employment should be provided for 365 days," said Satish Mishra of the BSP.

DMK leader Kanimozhi pointed out that 40% of the people who found work under MGNREGA belonged to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and added that the government should not try to dilute the Act.

Reassuring the members, the rural development minister said that both the centre and the states need to work together to cover loopholes in the law. “There are some loopholes, we are talking to state governments to curb these loopholes. We are trying to ensure that funds are directly transferred to the accounts of the beneficiaries. It is also the duty of state governments to curb loopholes," Singh added.

“The BJP wanted to cut down MGNREGA because it wants to reduce the burden of subsidies. It is not a serious setback to the government since it was unable to do it. The BJP wants to overhaul the system and they were only trying to test the water. They want to overhaul the system step by step and won’t rush into it. BJP would have wanted a division in the opposition but it could not do it," said P.K. Datta, a Delhi-based political analyst.

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