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MGNREGA has always unsettled PM Modi: Rahul Gandhi breaks silence on scheme renaming
This bill was tabled by union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the Lok Sabha amid strong objections by the opposition to the dropping of Mahatma Gandhi's name.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Centre over the overhaul to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA) by replacing it with the VB-G RAM G bill, calling it a direct insult to the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi.
On Tuesday, many opposition MPs, including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, protested in the Parliament House complex over the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, that seeks to replace MGNREGA. This bill was tabled by union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the Lok Sabha amid strong objections by the opposition to the dropping of Mahatma Gandhi's name.
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Rahul Gandhi slams Centre, PM Modi
The Lok Sabha LoP joined the list of opposition leaders protesting against the overhaul of the scheme as he said that MGNREGA has “always unsettled” PM Modi.
In his first reaction to the controversy, he accused the BJP-led government of attempting to weaken the scheme over the past decade. “Today, he is determined to erase MGNREGA altogether,” he said in a long post on X.
He added, “Modi ji has a deep hatred for two things -- the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and the rights of the poor. MGNREGA is a living embodiment of Mahatma Gandhi's dream of village self-rule. It is a lifeline for millions of rural lives, which also proved to be their economic safety shield during the COVID era.”
While accusing the government of “targeting” the livelihoods of poor rural families, Gandhi listed the three fundamental principles on which MGNREGA was built: the right to employment, autonomy for villages to decide their own development works, and full wage support by the central government.
The Congress leader alleged that PM Modi wants to “transform MGNREGA into a tool of centralised control.” He claimed that this would be done by “budgets, schemes, and rules will be dictated by the Centre; states will be forced to bear 40% of the costs; and once funds run out, or during harvest season, workers will be denied employment for months.”
He said that Congress will oppose the “anti-people” bill. “This new bill is a direct insult to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. After destroying the future of India’s youth through massive unemployment, the Modi Government is now targeting the secure livelihood of poor rural families,” he wrote on X.
What is the VB-G Ram G bill? What did govt say on the change?
Notably, the draft bill aims to provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment per financial year for every rural household whose adult members enrol for unskilled manual work.
Under the new proposal, the centre-state fund-sharing ratio will be 60:40 for all states and Union territories with legislatures. However, north eastern states, Himalayan states, and UTs such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir will have a 90:10 ratio.
Replacing the MGNREGA scheme with VB-G Ram G aligns with the Viksit Bharat (developed India) goal, a government official told Hindustan Times.
“MGNREGA works were scattered across many categories without a robust national strategy. The new act focuses on 4 major types of works ensuring durable assets that directly support water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure creation and climate adaptation. The new Act mandates Viksit gram panchayat plans, prepared by panchayats themselves and integrated with national spatial systems like PM Gati-Shakti,” a government functionary aware of the details said.
