Delhi: Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday strongly criticized the Modi government after Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Bill, replacing the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Calling the new scheme anti-state and anti-village, Gandhi argued that it undermines the bargaining power of rural workers and weakens the rights-based framework that had strengthened rural infrastructure over two decades.
“Last night, the Modi government demolished twenty years of MGNREGA in one day. VB–G RAM G isn’t a ‘revamp’ of MGNREGA. It demolishes the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee and turns it into a rationed scheme which is controlled from Delhi. It is anti-state and anti-village by design. MGNREGA gave the rural worker bargaining power. With real options, exploitation and distress migration fell, wages increased, working conditions improved, all while building and reviving rural infrastructure. That leverage is precisely what this government wants to break,” Rahul Gandhi posted on X.
Gandhi highlighted MGNREGA’s crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that it saved crores of people from hunger and debt while providing significant support to women and marginalized communities, including Dalits, Adivasis, and poor OBCs. He warned that by capping work and limiting access, VB-G RAM G risks excluding the very communities that relied on MGNREGA most.
Alleging that the bill was passed without proper scrutiny, Gandhi said the Opposition’s demand to refer it to a Parliamentary Standing Committee was rejected, describing the move as an attempt to centralize power and weaken rural labor. He accused the government of pushing slogans of reform while systematically reducing the leverage of rural India.
