Karnataka chief questions dropping Gandhi’s name from rural jobs scheme
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has criticised the Union government’s decision to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Speaking at Gandhi Jayanti events, he said the reason for removing Gandhi’s name was unclear and called for a detailed discussion.
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has questioned the Union government’s decision to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the national rural employment guarantee scheme. The scheme was renamed the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, according to the report.
Shivakumar said it was incomprehensible that Gandhi’s name had been removed and asked what harm there would have been in retaining it. He made the comments at Gandhi Jayanti events in Bengaluru on Friday. He said the issue required detailed discussion and framed it as part of a wider conflict between Gandhian and anti-Gandhian ideologies.
At the ceremony, Shivakumar, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president B.K. Hariprasad felicitated civic workers. Gandhi Seva Awards and Gandhi Puraskar were also presented.
Eleven villages in Koppal district were recognised for becoming free of alcohol sales. The awards included a charkha and a book. The prize money for one Gandhi Seva Award recipient, Woode P.
Krishna, was donated to the Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi. The Rail Wheel Factory also marked Gandhi Jayanti with a cleanliness pledge and activities under the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign. The supplied report did not include the Union government’s response to Shivakumar’s criticism.
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