The protest aims to oppose the proposed renaming and conversion of MNREGA into a statutory act by the central government. Earlier, block-level demonstrations were conducted, but the upcoming event will mark a district-level escalation.

Congress leaders Deepak Baij, State President, and Devendra Yadav, AICC National Secretary, are expected to participate, along with city president Siddhanshu Mishra and rural president Mahendra Gangotri. Their presence is intended to highlight party solidarity and bolster the morale of the participants.

Bilaspur district has a total of 15 block-level Congress committees, with four under the city president and eleven under the rural president. Officials emphasized that a large turnout of workers and supporters will be crucial for demonstrating strength during the Collectorate sit-in.

City president Siddhanshu Mishra said, “Unity is essential for the district-level protest. We are mobilizing people to express opposition to the central government’s MNREGA policy changes. Block-level actions have already taken place, and now the district-level demonstration will amplify our message.”

The protest had earlier been postponed due to the district leadership’s visit to Delhi and other logistical reasons. The PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) instructed the organizers to hold the Collectorate protest before February 20, leading to the scheduling of the event on February 18.

The preparatory meeting also included party office bearers, former and current councillors, and NSUI leaders, such as Santosh Garg, Tajmal Haq, Hitesh Devangan, Sakesh Mishra, Geetanjali Kaushik, Laxminath Sahu, Arun Trivedi, Subhash Agrawal, Abhyuday Tiwari, Shailendra Nirmalkar, Bunty Baiswade, Ashwani Uddeshya, Pankaj Singh, Subhash Thakur, Dhananjay Thakur, Gaurav Dubey, Bihari Devangan, Seema Ghritesh, Gaurav Aeri, and Dr. Rahul.