Mallikarjun Kharge (PTI image)
NEW DELHI: The Opposition has mounted a sharp attack on the Centre over its move to repeal and replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Several leaders have questioned the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from one of India’s largest welfare programmes.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday alleged that the proposal is part of a “BJP-RSS conspiracy” to dismantle a rights-based welfare law that benefits crores of rural poor.In a post on X, Kharge wrote: “This is not just about renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. This is a BJP-RSS conspiracy to end MGNREGA.” Kharge alleged that removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name while paying symbolic tributes to him exposed what he called the government’s “hollowness and hypocrisy.” The Congress leader said that the party would oppose the move “in Parliament and on the streets” and would not allow the rights of poor workers to be taken away.”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 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,” the veteran leader further wrote. The remarks came after the Centre proposed to repeal the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with another legislation, titled the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–G RAM G) Bill, 2025. The bill seeks to replace the MGNREGA with a revamped framework aimed at aligning rural employment and development with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. It has been listed in the supplementary list of businesses issued on Monday.Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also objected to the proposed legislation and said the Opposition has demanded that the Bill be referred to the appropriate Parliamentary Standing Committee for detailed scrutiny.In a post on X, Ramesh said such far-reaching legislation requires “deep study and wide consultations,” in keeping with parliamentary traditions.“The entire Opposition is demanding that the following three far-reaching Bills be referred to the Standing Committees concerned. We are hopeful that in keeping with the best of Parliamentary traditions and practices, this demand will be agreed to by the Government. The Bills require deep study and wide consultations: Higher Education Commission Bill, Atomic Energy Bill and G-RAM-G Bill,” his post read. Earlier, Ramesh criticised the government’s focus on renaming schemes, accusing it of prioritising branding over substance. He questioned why Mahatma Gandhi’s name was being removed from a programme that has been in place since 2005Speaking to reporters, Ramesh said: “The Narendra Modi government is unbeatable in changing the names of schemes and laws, no one can match it. The Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan was turned into Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the rural LPG distribution program was named Ujjwala… They are experts in packaging, branding, and naming. The surprising thing is that they hate Pandit Nehru, but they hate Mahatma Gandhi so much too; the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme has been running since 2005… You are changing its name to the Venerable Bapu Employment Guarantee Scheme; what’s the problem with the name Mahatma Gandhi?” Other Opposition leaders echoed similar concerns. Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, said the BJP had always intended to end MGNREGA.He recalled that the committee had recommended increasing the number of workdays and wages under the scheme and flagged pending dues to states. “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?, ” Ulka asked.
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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also questioned the rationale behind renaming the law.Speaking to reporters in the Parliament House complex, she said: “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?”Senior Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien termed the move an insult to the Father of the Nation.”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,” O’Brien said.CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby alleged that the proposed overhaul was an attempt to mask the dilution of MGNREGA’s rights-based structure.”The Union Government’s grandstanding over a total revamp of the MGNREGS is an attempt to hide the startling fact that the basic rights-based framework under which it operated is being dismantled, and the central share brought down drastically. We will fight tooth and nail against this disastrous move both inside and outside Parliament,” he claimed.Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also criticised the government’s move, saying renaming schemes was a long-standing BJP practice.Speaking to reporters, Yadav said: “The BJP’s culture of changing names is very old… In this double-engine government, the engine in Delhi is learning from the engine in Uttar Pradesh… This double-engine government is claiming others’ work as its own. They don’t have any new work to show.”
About the proposed law:
MGNREGA, enacted in 2005 and renamed in 2009, guarantees up to 100 days of wage employment annually to rural households willing to undertake unskilled manual work.The proposed VB–G RAM G Bill increases this guarantee to 125 days and seeks to establish a broader rural development framework aligned with Viksit Bharat 2047.Rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, acknowledged that MGNREGA has provided assured wage employment for the past 20 years. However, he said further strengthening was necessary in view of socio-economic changes in rural India and the expansion of other social security schemes.The Bill proposes a centrally sponsored framework under which states will design their own schemes within six months of the Act’s implementation, with the Centre making allocations based on defined parameters. Any expenditure beyond the approved allocation would be borne by state governments. Go to Source
