"Claiming others' work as its own": Akhilesh Yadav on MGNREGA scheme name change

New Delhi [India], December 15 (ANI): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday criticised Bharatiya Janata Party over introducing a bill to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA), alleging that the central government's move is motivated to "claim others' work as its own."
Speaking to reporters, Akhilesh Yadav said that it is an "old habit" of the BJP to change the name.
"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," Yadav said.
Additionally, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari questioned the BJP about removing Mahatma Gandhi's name from the scheme. He suggested that the central government should introduce a new scheme rather than changing the name of the scheme.
"In Hinduism, in Sanatan Dharma, every person respects their father. The Father of the Nation is respected all over the world. You are removing his name from the scheme that Sonia Gandhi had launched, and which became a source of livelihood for the country during the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.
"My point is that you bring another scheme, but why are you removing Mahatma Gandhi's name from this scheme? If they had their way, they would name this scheme after Godse," he added.
The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevil Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, aims to envision aligning rural development with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, focusing on empowerment, growth, convergence and saturation to build a prosperous and resilient rural Bharat.
Under the bill, public works will be aggregated to form the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, prioritising water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related projects, and climate-resilient initiatives. It also aims to ensure adequate farm-labour availability during peak agricultural seasons and to institutionalise Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans for integrated, saturation-driven planning.
These plans will be linked with PM Gati Shakti, powered by geospatial systems digital public infrastructure, and district- and state-level planning mechanisms.
The bill mandates a modern digital governance framework that incorporates biometric authentication, GPS and mobile-based monitoring, real-time dashboards, proactive disclosures and Artificial Intelligence tools for planning, auditing, and fraud risk mitigation.
The major definitions under the bill include adult members (aged one year or older), households, Blocks, implementing agencies, unskilled manual work, and the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan.
The legislation also establishes Central and State Grameen Rozgar Guarantee Councils, as well as National and State-level Steering Committees to oversee implementation. (ANI)