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Soon after the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, DMK MP T R Baalu, RSP leader N K Premchandran and others gathered near the Mahatma Gandhi statue. They raised slogans asserting that the country would not tolerate any insult to the Father of the Nation.
Carrying photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, the opposition MPs assembled near the steps of the Makar Dwar of Parliament and marched to Prerna Sthal within the Parliament House complex to register their protest.
Speaking to reporters, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the Centre of attempting to dilute and eventually dismantle the MGNREGA, which was enacted in 2005 under the UPA government. She also criticised the Centre’s repeated renaming of welfare schemes, calling it an expensive and unnecessary exercise.
She said,
“Renaming schemes costs the country a lot of money. I do not understand why the government is so obsessed with changing names,”
Priyanka Gandhi argued that while MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of employment to the poorest rural households, the new bill weakens this right despite claims of increasing workdays.
She questioned whether wage rates under the new framework would be raised, pointing out that funds for MGNREGA have been reduced over the years and payments to labourers are often delayed. She also expressed concern that the bill takes away the gram panchayat’s authority to decide local works and fund allocation, transferring greater control to the Centre.
“From every perspective, this bill is wrong,” she said, adding that it undermines decentralised decision-making at the village level.
The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025), was introduced by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan amid strong opposition objections over the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name. Countering the criticism, Chouhan said
“The government believes in Gandhi’s ideals and claimed the Narendra Modi-led government has done more for rural development than previous administrations.”
Opposition members demanded that the bill be referred to a parliamentary committee for detailed examination and also entered the Well of the House holding pictures of Mahatma Gandhi.
According to the bill, the proposed law provides a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to rural households willing to undertake unskilled manual work. States will be required to frame their own schemes in line with the new legislation within six months of its commencement.
The Rural Development Ministry said,
The bill aims to create a modern statutory framework aligned with the vision of “Viksit Bharat 2047.”
It seeks to generate employment and build durable rural infrastructure through four focus areas, including water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-linked assets, and special works to address extreme weather events.
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The Thiruvananthapuram MP quoted the song line,
“Dekho o deewano ye kaam na karo, Ram ka naam badnaam na karo,”
to question the intent behind the legislation, asserting that the bill was not a simple administrative change but an assault on the very spirit and philosophical core of the rural employment programme.
The VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and was introduced in the Lok Sabha amid strong opposition protests over the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the flagship scheme. Opposition members demanded that the bill be referred to a parliamentary standing committee for detailed scrutiny.
Introducing the bill, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Narendra Modi government believes in and follows Mahatma Gandhi’s principles, claiming that the Centre has delivered more for rural development than previous administrations. However, opposition MPs, including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, strongly objected to dropping Gandhi’s name from the law.
Tharoor described the proposed legislation as a “deeply regrettable and retrograde step” that weakens the country’s commitment to the welfare of its most vulnerable citizens. He argued that Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Ram Rajya was not political symbolism but a socio-economic framework grounded in village empowerment and Gram Swaraj.
Tharoor said,
“The original Act acknowledged this deep connection by bearing Gandhi’s name. Employment guarantee and upliftment must flow from the grassroots, reflecting his principle of putting the last person first. Removing his name strips the bill of its moral compass and historical legitimacy,”
He also criticised the bill’s title, which combines languages to form the acronym “G RAM G,” calling it a violation of constitutional norms and mocking the attempt through his song reference.
Additionally, Tharoor questioned the financial restructuring proposed under the bill, particularly the move to place 40% of the financial burden on state governments. He warned that the measure was fiscally irresponsible and could render the programme unworkable across states.
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