President Droupadi Murmu
NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday gave assent to the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB—G RAM G) Bill, 2025, which replaces the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).The new law aims to provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work. According to an official statement, the legislation “establishes a modern statutory framework aligned with Viksit Bharat 2047, guaranteeing 125 days of wage employment per rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.”The Lok Sabha passed the bill on Thursday amid sustained opposition protests that led to repeated disruptions and the adjournment of the House.Opposition parties, led by the Congress, strongly criticised the repeal of MGNREGA, accusing the government of dismantling the scheme and removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name without proper consultation. On Saturday, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in a video message, charged the PM Modi government with “bulldozing” MGNREGA and stated that the “black law” seeking to repeal it would be defied by lakhs of party workers across the country. Her statement came a day after Rahul Gandhi said that Congress would compel the government to withdraw the new law.