January 20, 2026 Times of Dakshin Dinajpur
Kamal Kumar Biswas.TOD.Balurghat
Members of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in South Dinajpur district on Tuesday staged a five-hour hunger strike and sit-in demonstration in Balurghat, protesting proposed changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and pressing for higher minimum wages for workers.The protest, which began at 10 a.m., was organized in opposition to the reported move to rename the 100-day employment scheme as “Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission ,” the implementation of new labor codes, and the demand to raise the daily minimum wage for workers to ₹400. Demonstrators also announced that a memorandum would be submitted to the Prime Minister through the district magistrate.
The program was attended by South Dinajpur INTUC president Ratan Sarkar, Pradesh Congress Committee member Tirthankar Ghosh, former district Congress president Anjan Chowdhury, and several other party and union leaders.Addressing the gathering, Mr. Sarkar said the protest was part of a nationwide campaign launched by the Indian National Congress to “save MGNREGA,” which began on January 10 and will continue until February 25. “As part of this movement, we are protesting the renaming of the 100-day employment scheme and demanding the withdrawal of the labor codes,” he said. “We are also pressing for a minimum daily wage of ₹400 for workers.”Union leaders said the delegation to the Prime Minister would highlight concerns that the proposed changes could undermine workers’ rights and weaken employment guarantees for rural laborers.
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