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Protests mar passage of VB-G RAM G bill in Lok Sabha
The passage of the contentious bill, which seeks to rejig the federal rural jobs programme, was marked by chaos in the Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha on Thursday approved the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G, bill, which seeks to replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, by a voice vote amid loud protests by the Opposition.
The passage of the contentious bill, which seeks to rejig the federal rural jobs programme, was marked by chaos in the House, with Opposition MPs demanding that it be referred to a standing committee. Shouting slogans against the government, several members entered the Well of the House, tore copies of the bill and flung the papers in the direction of the Chair. Speaker Om Birla rejected the demand to send the bill to a standing committee, saying the legislation had already been discussed at length.
“The kind of indecent conduct displayed by the Opposition that tore the pages of the bill and threw them around…is that not an insult to Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi)? Parliamentary decorum was thoroughly disregarded, reducing the spirit of democracy to a display of disorder and unruliness,” Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said after Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
The developments came after eight hours of debate that continued till 1.30am on Wednesday before resuming on Thursday in the Lok Sabha.
”This is not merely a case of renaming MGNREGA; rather, it is the systematic murder of the world’s largest employment scheme,” Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said.
The bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha at 6.46pm on Thursday. The debate was still on at the time of going to print.
The new scheme proposes to provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work, up from 100 days under MGNREGS.
The bill proposes that the financial liability will be shared between the Centre and the state governments in a 90:10 proportion for northeastern and Himalayan states, and 60:40 proportion for all other states and Union territories with a legislature. For UTs without a legislature, the whole cost will be borne by the Centre. The entire wage bill of MGNREGS was borne by the Centre, with states paying the cost of materials.
The bill proposes to pause the programme during the farming season to ensure availability of farm workers, a first such step in a federal scheme. It also suggests that the central government shall determine the state-wise normative allocation for each financial year, based on objective parameters as may be prescribed by the Union. MGNREGS was a demand-driven scheme with the Union government bound to allocate more money for additional demand for work. But under the proposed scheme, any expenditure incurred by a state in excess would be borne by the state government.
On Thursday, as soon as Birla asked Chouhan to reply to the discussion on the bill, Congress member KC Venugopal urged the speaker to send the bill to a parliamentary standing committee or a joint parliamentary committee (JPC). However, Birla refused. “A total of 98 Lok Sabha MPs have put out their views on the bill till 1:30 am in the night, it was debated for over eight hours compared to four hours allotted for the same,” he said, asking the opposition to listen to Chouhan.
But the Opposition, led by the Congress, started protesting and sloganeering that the government was “insulting Mahatma Gandhi and diluting the provisions of the act.”
Amid sloganeering, Chouhan continued to speak on the proposed law and said it will lead to “comprehensive development of villages” and “meant to provide abundant employment to every poor person, uphold their dignity, and offer additional protection to the differently-abled, elderly, women, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes”.
Chouhan said that there were many shortcomings in MGNREGS. “NREGA was not initially kept in the name of Mahatma Gandhi ji; it was just NREGA. Mahatma Gandhi’s name was added to NREGA with an eye on the 2009 general elections to get votes…MGNREGA was nothing but a tool of corruption and the new law has been brought after discussions with stakeholders,” he said.
Chouhan also dismissed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s allegations that the government was arbitrarily changing the names of schemes. “They named 25 state governments schemes after Rajiv Gandhi, 27 schemes after Indira Gandhi to glorify their own clan members…Congress killed ideals of Mahatma Gandhi when it accepted partition of India; rejected his call for disbanding party; the day they gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir; and the day Indira Gandhi imposed emergency,” said Chouhan.
But protests continued, with several MPs storming the well to oppose the bill. Amid the uproar, some members tore up papers, prompting Birla to intervene. “The people have not sent you here to tear paper…The nation is watching you,” he said.
Continuing his reply to the discussion over the bill, Chouhan said the aim of the bill was to develop villages with all facilities in line with the vision of Viksit Bharat (developed India) by 2047. “In this scheme, we are providing a guarantee of employment. We are working to enrich livelihoods, with the aim of building a developed India,” he said.
Chouhan said the UPA spent ₹2.13 lakh crore on MGNREGA, and the NDA spent ₹8.53 lakh crore.
Opposition MPs also carried out a protest march inside the Parliament House complex against the government’s G RAM G bill, demanding its withdrawal.
After the House was adjourned, Priyanka Gandhi said the Opposition will continue to strongly oppose the bill. “Anyone who reads the bill will understand how the rural employment guarantee scheme is about to finish. This bill puts a funding burden on states, and state governments do not have money. This scheme (MGNREGS) is a support for the poorest of the poor. This bill is anti-poor,” she said.
Speaking outside Parliament, Chouhan said the Opposition should explain why they were against the provisions of the bill that was drafted with a human perspective, and why they had a problem with the use of technology to check leaks.
“Should money be sacrificed to corruption?” Chouhan asked.
“Earlier there was a guarantee of 100 days for employment, which has now been increased to 125 days. To support this extended period of time adequate funds have been proposed totalling ₹1.51 lakh crore, of this the Centre share exceeds ₹95,000 crore,” he said.
The minister said the BJP was committed to empowering the poor. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, not one but numerous schemes have been drafted and continuously been used to improve the lives of the poor. That is how more than 25 crore people have risen above the poverty line…” he said.
He also said that names of schemes were changed earlier as well.
“There are several schemes that were launched for rural development and employment. The Comprehensive Rural Employment Scheme, then the Jawahar Employment Scheme, and after that MGNREGA came along. If Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s name was not included, does that mean he was insulted?” Chouhan asked.
