New Delhi: The Indian National Congress has announced a nationwide outreach programme to mark its Foundation Day on December 28, calling on its Pradesh Congress Committees to organise events across mandals and villages. The initiative is intended to project the party’s ideological roots and renew its focus on the dignity of labour, social justice, and the right to work, with Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait forming a central symbol of the observances.
Party units have been asked to ensure broad-based participation, bringing together functionaries from all organisational levels, elected representatives, civil society groups, rural workers associated with employment schemes, beneficiaries, and members of the general public. The programmes are expected to serve both as commemorative events and as platforms to articulate the Congress’s position on employment rights and rural livelihoods.
The move comes on a day of heightened political activity in Parliament, following the introduction of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha. The proposed legislation seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, a flagship rural employment law that has been in force for nearly two decades. While the new bill proposes to increase guaranteed wage employment from 100 to 125 days per rural household, it has triggered strong reactions from opposition parties.
Opposition members of Parliament staged a demonstration outside Parliament’s Makar Dwar and later assembled near the Mahatma Gandhi statue within the premises. Displaying Gandhi’s photographs, they expressed concern that the proposed changes could weaken the existing employment guarantee framework and adversely affect rural livelihoods.
Senior political leaders from the Congress and other opposition parties, joined the protest, signalling a coordinated challenge to the government’s proposed overhaul of the rural employment law. With the Foundation Day programmes set to unfold across the country, the Congress appears poised to combine symbolic remembrance with political mobilisation, positioning itself at the forefront of the debate on employment rights and rural development.
