Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Credit: Sansad TV
New Delhi: The 'VB - G RAM G Bill 2025', seeking to repeal MGNREGA and replace it with a new rural employment guarantee law, attracted criticism from the Opposition with leaders on Monday questioning why the Modi government is removing the name of the Father of the Nation.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it is not just about renaming MGNREGA. "This is a BJP-RSS conspiracy to end MGNREGA. Erasing Gandhi's name on the centenary of the Sangh shows how hollow and hypocritical those who, like Modi ji, offer flowers to Bapu on foreign soil," he said pledging to strongly oppose the "arrogant regime's" move inside and outside Parliament.
The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 was circulated among MPs and it seeks to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act while providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
Senior Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra told reporters, "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?"
"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?" she asked.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O'Brien said the government's move was "an insult" to Mahatma Gandhi. "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," he claimed.
CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby claimed that the buck is being passed on to states and the Centre can now punish opposition-ruled states by cutting down allocations. "It will also codify into law the technological interventions through which lakhs of people are being deprived of their entitlements," he said.
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, he said, adding they would fight tooth and nail against this "disastrous move" both inside and outside Parliament.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha floor leader John Brittas posted on 'X', "125 days is the headline. 60:40 is the fine print. MGNREGA was a fully centrally funded one for unskilled wages; 'G RAM G' downgrades it with states to bear 40%. States will now have to shell out around Rs 50,000+ crore. Kerala alone will have to bear an additional Rs 2,000–2,500 crore. Cost-shifting by stealth, not reform. This is the new federalism: States pay more, Centre walks away, yet claims the credit."
Senior Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka, who is also Parliamentary Standing Committee of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Chairman, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described MNREGA as a scheme for digging pits and the government always wanted to end MGNREGS.
"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?" he said.