VB-G RAM G Bill gets Parliament nod; Opposition leaders sit on overnight protest

The bill, that seeks to replace 20-year-old MGNREGA rural employment programme was passed by Parliament amid Opposition protests, with the Rajya Sabha giving it its nod post midnight on Thursday

Opposition leaders staged a 12-hour overnight dharna in Parliament complex on Thursday night, while protesting against the passage of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill that seeks to replace the MGNREGA rural employment programme and said they would take to the streets across the country.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose accused the Union government of bulldozing the VB-G RAM G Bill, as Opposition MPs sat on a 12-hour dharna in the Parliament complex.

The bill was passed by Parliament amid Opposition's protests, with the Rajya Sabha giving it its nod post midnight on Thursday.

Ghose said the Modi government has brought in this "anti-poor, anti-people, anti-farmer, anti-rural poor" bill, and has done away with the MGNREGA.

"This is an insult to India's poor, it is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, it is an insult to Rabindranath Tagore. With just five hours' notice, this bill was given to us. We were not allowed a proper debate," Ghose said, according to PTI.

"Our demand was such an important bill should be sent to the Select Committee and let the Opposition parties examine it, let the Opposition parties discuss it, let all stakeholders discuss it, but [the government said] no, in a display of tyranny, in a murder of democracy," she said.

"We are now going to sit on a 12-hour dharna, 12-hour dharna against the manner in which the Modi government has brought this black law against the people of India, against the poor of India, against the rural poor of India," she said.

Parliament on Thursday passed the VB-G RAM G Bill that seeks to replace the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and guarantees 125 days of rural wage employment every year amid vociferous protests by the Opposition, with Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asserting that it was needed to fix shortcomings in the old scheme.

The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote, hours after the Lok Sabha cleared it on Thursday, amid strong protests by the Opposition over the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the existing rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA and accusing the government of putting the financial burden on States.

Several members of the Opposition staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha during the passage of the Bill after demanding its withdrawal and raising slogans against the government. They also tore pages of the Bill, with Chairman C P Radhakrishnan warning them not to go towards the treasury benches.

The Opposition leaders later sat on a 12-hour overnight dharna.

'Sad day for the country's labour force'

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala termed the day as a "sad day for the country's labour force and accused the Modi government of being anti-farmer and anti-poor.

"This is perhaps the saddest day for the labourers of India. BJP government has attacked the livelihood of 12 crore people by repealing the MGNREGA. They have proved that the Modi government is anti-farmer and anti-poor," he alleged.

Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said, "When MGNREGA was drafted, consultations were held for 14 months. It was passed by Parliament with consensus. The new scheme would put an extreme burden on States. As a result, this scheme will collapse."

DMK leader Tiruchi Siva said they shifted the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar to the back of Parliament, where people cannot see.

"Likewise they have removed Mahatma Gandhi's name himself ... now, the scheme which bore his name, his name has also been removed," he said.

He said the entire Opposition was agitated.

(With agency inputs)