The VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025 will replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) once it is passed by Parliament.
Congress opposes MGNREGA name change (Photo: IANS)
As the Union government is preparing to introduce the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G Bill), 2025 in the Lok Sabha today, the Congress party once again slammed the Centre and asked what was the need for the move.
The VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, will replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) once it is passed by Parliament.
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Ahead of today’s proceedings in Parliament for the ongoing Winter Session, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the government on the need for the bill and said, “I don’t understand this obsession with changing the name. It involves a lot of expenditure. I don’t understand why they are doing it unnecessarily.”
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She continued: “Secondly, under MGNREGA, a right was provided, the right to 100 days of employment for the poorest of the poor. And this bill will weaken that right. The way they have added two or three things in this bill, it seems from the outside that they have increased the number of days. Have you increased the wages?”
Another senior Congress MP, Manish Tewari, described the government move as a “strange situation”, highlighting that MGNREGA, brought in by the erstwhile UPA government in 2005, has played a crucial role over the years in providing livelihood to the poor.
TMC voices strong objections to govt renaming MGNREGA Bill
“In 2005, the UPA government brought in the MGNREGA law, and this has been the most successful scheme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi even had to increase the MGNREGA budget every year. During COVID, when millions of people migrated from cities back to their villages, MGNREGA played a crucial role in saving them, in protecting them. And today, this is a very strange situation,” Tewari told reporters outside Parliament.
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav also expressed his views on the matter and said there was no need for the new bill. Yadav added that the government’s move only reflects its intentions to oppose the Gandhis.
“In my view, there is no need for such a bill at all. By bringing this bill, the BJP has only reinforced the allegations that they have opposed Gandhi from the very beginning. All the accusations made against them, from Gandhi’s assassination to the present, are being confirmed. We will never support this bill,” the SP leader said.
Ahead of the start of day’s proceedings, opposition leaders led by Congress MPs also held a protest outside Parliament over the proposed MGNREGA name change.
Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier described the MNREGA name change move as a BJP-RSS conspiracy to kill the scheme.
“This is not just about renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. This is a BJP-RSS conspiracy to end MGNREGA. Erasing Gandhi’s name on the centenary of the Sangh shows how hollow and hypocritical those are who, like Modi ji, offer flowers to Bapu on foreign soil. The government that recoils from the rights of the poor is the one that attacks MGNREGA. The Congress party will strongly oppose in Parliament and on the streets any such decision of this arrogant regime that is against the poor and workers. We will not allow the rights of crores of poor people, labourers, and workers to be snatched away by those in power,” Kharge said.
As per details available, the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025 guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household per year, compared to the existing 100-day guarantee.
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