'Let's not dishonour Gandhi's legacy': Shashi Tharoor on MGNREGA renaming

Tharoor, whose stand has been at variance with that of his party on some occasions recently, however, joined the Congress in registering strong objection to the new bill

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has criticised the Centre’s proposal to rename and replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), terming the move “unfortunate”.

Responding to the Union government’s plan to introduce the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, to recall MGNREGA, Tharoor said the decision "ignores the symbiosis" between the concept of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya which "were the twin pillars of Gandhiji’s consciousness".

The Congress has strongly objected to the bill on replacing MGNREGA, saying erasing Mahatma Gandhi's name shows how "hollow and hypocritical" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gestures of paying homage to the father of the nation are.

Tharoor, whose stand has been at variance with that of his party on some occasions recently, said expressed his objection to the move in a post on X.

"The controversy over renaming MGNREGA in the Govt's proposed new G-RAM-G Bill is unfortunate. The concept of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya were never competing forces; they were the twin pillars of Gandhiji’s consciousness. Replacing the Mahatma’s name in a scheme for the rural poor ignores this profound symbiosis," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.

"His (Gandhi's) final breath was a testament to 'Ram'; let us not dishonour his legacy by creating a division where none existed," he said in the post.

When a user asked whether he was objecting to the renaming or the political controversy over it, Tharoor replied, "It's pretty clear that I am objecting to replacing the Mahatma's name..."

Tharoor's comments came at a time when the Congress and other Opposition parties have mounted a sharp attack on the Union government over the proposed Bill.

According to the proposed Bill, the scheme will provide 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.

Within six months from the date of commencement of the VB-G RAM G Act, States will have to make a scheme consistent with the provisions of the new law.

The financial liability would be shared between the Centre and the state governments. It would be 90:10 for the Northeastern states and Himalayan states and 60:40 for all other States and Union Territories with legislature. For the UTs without a legislature, the whole cost would be borne by the Centre.

The MGNREGS was a 100 per cent Centrally sponsored scheme.