NATIONAL: MGNREGA Scheme Renamed, Opposition Erupts
India’s Parliament witnessed heated debates as the government pushed forward with sweeping reforms, starting with a controversial overhaul of the flagship rural jobs program.
The proposed Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, or VB-G RAM G, aims to replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
This move signals a pivot toward long-term national goals, but not without sparking fierce backlash.
Bill’s Core Promises
The new legislation guarantees 125 days of wage employment each year to rural households willing to take on unskilled manual work, up from the current 100 days under MGNREGA.
It shifts focus to building durable assets in key areas like water security, rural infrastructure, livelihoods, and climate-resilient projects.
Digital tools for worker attendance, payments, and planning will streamline operations, while a 60-day pause during peak farming seasons ensures labor flows to agriculture.
Funding changes mark a bigger departure: the scheme moves from full central financing to a 60:40 split between the Centre and states, placing more responsibility on regional governments for execution and oversight.
Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described it as an upgrade to match evolving economic needs and the Viksit Bharat vision for 2047.
States will handle day-to-day management, with the Center stepping back to supervisory roles.
Opposition’s Sharp Critique
Critics wasted no time in slamming the rename, viewing it as an erasure of Mahatma Gandhi’s enduring symbol of equity.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra confronted reporters outside Parliament, asking why the Father of the Nation’s name was being stripped away from a program that has uplifted millions.
She recalled Prime Minister Modi’s past jabs at MGNREGA as a mere “ditch-digging” effort, suggesting this fulfills a long-held aim to dismantle it.
Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, highlighted ignored recommendations to boost wages and extend workdays to 150 under the existing law.
Trinamool Congress voices echoed concerns over added state burdens and diluted worker rights.
The rename, they argued, wastes resources on rebranding while core issues like pending state dues linger unresolved.
Broader Parliamentary Push
Beyond rural jobs, three other bills landed in the Lok Sabha, fueling a packed winter session agenda.
The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill opens civilian nuclear power to private players, repealing outdated 1960s laws to chase 100 gigawatts of capacity by 2047.
It eases liability rules and promotes small modular reactors for cleaner, round-the-clock energy.
In education, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill seeks to consolidate regulators into a single 13-member body, ditching fragmented oversight from UGC, AICTE, and NCTE.
This promises streamlined accreditation and innovation in higher learning, though opposition flagged last-minute drafts and Hindi titles as barriers to quick review.
A Repealing and Amending Bill targets 71 redundant laws, including the 1886 Indian Tramways Act, adding to the 1,562 already scrapped since 2014.
- Streamlined nuclear investments via private equity up to 49 percent.
- Unified education governance to foster self-reliance in universities.
- Cleanup of archaic statutes for a leaner legal framework.
As these proposals advance, they underscore a government drive for modernization amid cries for more consultation.
Will the tweaks empower rural India or erode hard-won safeguards? The coming debates will test that balance.