The government faced sharp opposition during the Parliament Winter Session over a bill seeking to repeal MGNREGA and replace it with a new rural employment law under Viksit Bharat 2047. Opposition leaders questioned the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme
The eleventh day of the Parliament's Winter Session is currently underway. Pic/PTI
The government came under sharp criticism on Monday over a bill that seeks to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The bill will replace MGNREGA with a new rural employment law, news agency PTI reported.
The Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs), during the introduction of the bill, criticised the government and questioned why the name of the 'Father of the nation' is being removed from the scheme.
The 'Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025,' has been listed in the Lok Sabha in the supplementary list of business issued on Monday, PTI reported.
The bill seeks to repeal the MGNREGA of 2005 and establish a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 by providing 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.
Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, said, “The panel made several recommendations, including that for increasing the number of workdays and wages under the MGNREG scheme."
Ulaka further said that the panel made several recommendations, including increasing the number of workdays and wages under the scheme, PTI reported.
"When they (BJP) came to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called it a scheme for digging pits... It was always their intention to end MGNREGS," the Congress MP told the media.
He further stated, "I don't know what problem they have with the name of Bapu, but they wanted to finish it because it was a Congress scheme. I head the Parliamentary panel, and we made so many recommendations -- to increase the number of days to 150, to increase the wages... The states have pending dues; West Bengal is not getting funds. They have brought a bill, but why have they removed the name of Mahatma Gandhi?"
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slams government over the bill
When asked about the government's move, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asserted, "Whenever the name of a scheme is changed, there are so many changes that have to be made in offices, stationery... for which money is spent. So, what is the benefit? Why is it being done?"
"Why is Mahatma Gandhi's name being removed? Mahatma Gandhi is considered the tallest leader not just in the country but in the world; so, removing his name, I really don't understand what the objective is. What is their intention?" she emphasised.
"Even when we are debating, it is on other issues and not the real issues of the people. Time is being wasted, money is being wasted, and they are disrupting themselves," the Wayanad MP added.
Furthermore, senior Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien also termed the government's move "an insult to Mahatma Gandhi".
"But then, are you surprised! These are the same people who hero-worshipped the man who killed Mahatma Gandhi. They want to insult Mahatma Gandhi and remove him from history," the TMC MP said.
MGNREGA, which was passed as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in 2005 and renamed in 2009, provides up to 100 days of wage employment for unskilled labour. However, the proposed new law, meanwhile, provides for 125 days of work and talks about establishing a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
(With inputs from PTI)
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