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VB-G RAM G Bill tabled in Lok Sabha amid Opposition protest
A new bill, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, has been introduced in Lok Sabha. This bill aims to replace the existing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Opposition members strongly protested its introduction. They voiced concerns over removing Mahatma Gandhi's name and changes to the scheme's funding structure.
Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday introduced in the Lok Sabha the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, which seeks to replace the existing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), amid vociferous protests from opposition members who deplored the removal of Gandhi's name from the scheme besides arguing that the new bill sought to make it supply-driven and burden states with its cost.
"Gandhiji is in our heart... With this scheme we are trying to achieve Ram Rajya," Chouhan said while introducing the bill, as opposition MPs, holding placards with Mahatma Gandhi's picture on them, stood up and protested in the House. They urged the government to either withdraw the bill or refer it to a House committee.
Opposition circles were also livid over the fact that the proposed bill not only sought to do away with the UPA-enacted MGNREGA Act but also to erase the "Sonia Gandhi legacy" that the Congress had attached to the Act by crediting it to her role as then chairperson of the National Advisory Council.
At the introduction stage, Speaker Om Birla allowed opposition members including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shashi Tharoor and KC Venugopal of the Congress, TR Balu (DMK), Saugata Roy (AITC), NK Premachandran (RSP) and Supriya Sule (NCP-SP) to record their objection to the bill's introduction.
"Mahatma Gandhi was not from my family, but he was still like a member of my family. This is the emotion of the entire nation... This bill should be sent to the standing committee for further deliberations. No bill should be tabled and passed because of someone's obsession and prejudice," Vadra said.
She argued that while MGNREGA provided work based on demand, and the Centre's funding for the scheme was also demand-based and it helped the poorest sections, the bill proposed to make the scheme supply-driven and slash central funding to 60% from 90%.
Objecting to the government removing Gandhi's name from the scheme, Tharoor sarcastically sang the Hindi film song 'Dekho o deewano, tum ye kaam na karo, Ram ka naam badnam na karo'. He further said, "My first objection is the ill-advised decision to remove the name of the Father of the Nation... But this is not merely an administrative tweak, it is an assault on the very spirit and philosophical foundation of this crucial programme...The original Act, by bearing his (Gandhi's) name, acknowledged this profound connection - that true employment guarantee and upliftment must flow from the grassroots, embodying his principle of the last person first. To remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi is to strip the bill of its moral compass and historical legitimacy.
Sule said while every legislation would have to evolve with the changing time and demands, it was wrong to drop Mahatma's name from the bill and sought that it be referred to the House committee.
Defending the proposed legislation, the agriculture minister said it provided for 125 days of guaranteed employment annually, up from 100 under the MGNREGS. "The aim of the new scheme is to ensure all-round development of villages, which was a resolve of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay."
Arguing that the Modi government was committed to the welfare of the poorest, Chouhan said while ₹2,13,000 crore was spent on MGNREGA during the UPA government, the Modi government has spent more than ₹8,53,000 crore on the scheme and has made sustained efforts to strengthen it.
Opposition members also staged protests outside Parliament House before and after the introduction of the bill.
Meanwhile, the Congress announced that it will hold nationwide protests against the bill at district headquarters on Wednesday.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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