DPCC President Devender Yadav writes an open letter to the urban poor brothers and sisters of Delhi to join the struggle demanding implementation of Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme in Delhi due to record unemployment in the Capital. The poor of Delhi should be provided employment for fixed days so that they can live their lives with dignity, equality and social stability without being dependent on anyone- Devender Yadav New Delhi, 24th December, 2025-- Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Shri Devender Yadav has written an open letter to the urban poor brothers and sisters of Delhi to join the struggle for the implementation of the Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme in Delhi due to record unemployment in the Capital so that the poor of Delhi can get employment for fixed days and they can live their life with dignity, equality and social stability without being dependent on anyone. Shri Devender Yadav said that while the Central Government was abolishing the Right to Employment Act like MNREGA, which had given legal right to employment to crores of poor villagers of India through MNREGA. He said efforts are being made to abolish MNREGA while in the new Act, the government should have included the urban poor as the rural are migrating to the cities due to financial constraints, unemployment and hunger. He said that Urban workers are completely deprived of this. Shri Devender Yadav said in the letter that Delhi has been the capital of the country and a symbol of opportunities for development, but for the last 10 years, lakhs of people in Delhi have been forced to live in conditions of instability due to uncertainty of employment, inflation and unsafe working conditions. He said that After the mass exodus of villagers, urban employment guarantee for the urban poor is a viable solution to ensure equality and livelihood for all in the Capital. He said that because of rapid urbanization, rising cost of living, additional burden on construction workers due to contract system, economic pressure on daily wage workers, workers in unorganized sector, women, youth, street vendors and families living in jhuggi jhopri, JJ clusters and industries and factories due to pollution, the livelihood of urban poor is being snatched away. Shri Devender Yadav said in the letter that urban employment guarantee means that the government should take the responsibility of providing work and the local people should get work for a fixed number of days in a year, as the wages should be paid directly to the bank account on time and unemployment allowance should be given in case of no work. He said that this is not a new or impractical concept, as it is already in place in many States. He said that the Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme is applicable in the States of Rajasthan under the Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, Kerala under the Ayyankali Scheme and in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. With the implementation of such schemes, while the participation of women increases, unemployment and poverty in cities decreases, cities become cleaner, greener and safer, demand in the local market increases and the standard of living of the urban poor improves. Shri Devender Yadav said in the letter that while in India, the villagers got the right to employment through MNREGA, urban India, especially Delhi, is still deprived of such a right, which is a complete injustice. The urban employment guarantee is not a "freebie" but a fulfilment of the spirit of the Constitution. Article 21 gives the right to a dignified life and livelihood, the Directive Principles of Policy entrust the government with the responsibility of providing employment opportunities. The 74th Constitutional Amendment makes it the duty of local bodies to eradicate urban poverty. While most of the rural land is being acquired in the name of development, lakhs of urban poor living in over 1,700 unauthorised colonies and resettlement colonies need employment to earn a living. Shri Devender Yadav said that Urban Employment Guarantee is not a charity but a right of the people of Delhi. The Congress party and our leader Shri Rahul Gandhi are fighting the battle for the right to employment from the streets to Parliament. He said that this struggle will be successful with the cooperation of the public, the urban poor and ordinary citizens should raise their voice in solidarity with the country and the villagers. Let all the citizens of Delhi be a part of our struggle. He said that in Delhi, we are struggling to implement the Urban Employment Guarantee Act, which provides for at least 150 days of work per year, unemployment allowance for 15 days if there is no work, wages of Rs.500 for unskilled work and Rs.700 per day for skilled/ semi-skilled work, and employment to one or more family members on the basis of any government identity card for residents aged 18-60. Shri Devender Yadav said that He was confident that the urban poor of Delhi will establish a just, inclusive, social security, equality environment in Delhi by implementing, with your support and unity for Urban Employment Guarantee. He said that the Delhi people support is important to make the voice of the urban poor a part of the national employment discourse and to connect Delhi strongly with the countrywide labour struggle.