"Govt has run bulldozer over both MGNREGA and democracy": Rahul Gandhi on VB G RAM G Act

New Delhi [India], December 22 (ANI): Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused the ruling BJP government of not holding a discussion in Parliament on the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM-G Bill).
He alleged that the bill is not meant to bring development but destruction, the cost of which will be borne by Indians through the loss of their livelihoods.
"No public discourse, no discussion in Parliament, no consent from the states - the Modi government has run a bulldozer over both MGNREGA and democracy. This is not development, but destruction - the cost of which millions of toiling Indians will pay by losing their livelihood. Be sure to read this article by the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi Ji, which exposes every aspect of this serious issue," wrote Gandhi.
The Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill on December 18, and it received the President's assent on December 21.
The Bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work. As per Section 22 of the Bill, the fund-sharing pattern between the Centre and the states will be 60:40. For the Northeastern states, Himalayan states, and Union Territories, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the ratio will be 90:10. Section 6 of the Bill allows state governments to notify in advance a period aggregating up to 60 days in a financial year, covering peak agricultural seasons such as sowing and harvesting.
Meanwhile, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in a recent op-ed in a leading English daily, launched a sharp attack on the Central government, accusing it of dismantling the rights-based legislative framework through its proposed changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and other key laws.
In the article titled 'The Bulldozed Demolition of MGNREGA', Sonia Gandhi argued that the weakening of the rural employment scheme represents a collective moral failure, with long-term financial and human consequences for crores of working people across the country.
She wrote that MGNREGA was not merely a welfare initiative but a rights-based programme that provided livelihood security and dignity to rural households. According to her, the erosion of the scheme is "collective moral failure.
"MGNREGA realised the Mahatma's vision of Sarvodaya (welfare of all) and enacted the constitutional right to work. Its death is our collective moral failure - one that will have financial and human consequences for crores of India's working people for years to come. It is imperative, now more than ever, to unite and safeguard the rights that protect us all," she wrote. (ANI)