NEW DELHI, Dec 18: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill seeking to replace the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with a new rural employment initiative guaranteeing 125 days of work annually, amid vociferous protests by Opposition parties. The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill was cleared by a voice vote even as Opposition members raised slogans, trooped into the well of the House and tore copies of the bill. Following the passage of the legislation, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.
Replying to an eight-hour debate on the bill, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Modi government was upholding the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi through various welfare initiatives. Accusing the Congress of abandoning Gandhian values, Chouhan said the NDA had ensured that Mahatma Gandhi “lives on” through schemes such as PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission and Ayushman Bharat, aimed at improving the lives of the poor.
Opposition members, however, strongly objected to the move, alleging that the government had removed Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the rural employment programme and was effectively dismantling the employment guarantee framework. Amid the uproar, members flung torn copies of the bill towards the Chair and continued their protest as the legislation was put to vote.
Soon after the bill was passed, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the proposed law would “finish off MGNREGA completely.” She asserted that the Opposition was united against the bill and would strongly resist the government’s move. “The increase in workdays from 100 to 125 is deceit. Anyone who reads the bill carefully will know that this scheme will be finished off in the next few days,” she told reporters.
Opposition-ruled states also reacted sharply. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her government would rename its rural job guarantee programme after Mahatma Gandhi, stating that if some parties failed to respect national icons, others would do so. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin accused the BJP-led Union government of undermining the livelihoods of the poor, alleging that the changes would hurt rural workers the most.
Earlier in the day, several Opposition MPs staged a protest march inside the Parliament House complex demanding the withdrawal of the G RAM G Bill. Holding a banner reading “Mahatma Gandhi NREGA,” they marched from the Gandhi statue at Prerna Sthal to Makar Dwar, raising slogans against the government. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, DMK leaders K Kanhimozhi, T R Baalu and A Raja, IUML’s E T Mohammed Basheer, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant and RSP’s N K Premchandran were among those who participated in the protest.
