VB–G Ram G Bill Passes in Lok Sabha Amid Opposition Uproar

Opposition MPs strongly opposed the bill, which seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). They raised slogans, tore copies of the bill, and flung paper in the House. The uproar continued even as Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan replied to the debate.

Chouhan rejected charges that the government was disrespecting Mahatma Gandhi by removing his name from the scheme. He argued that Congress had undermined Gandhi’s ideals during partition, the Emergency, and by granting special status to Kashmir. He further alleged that Gandhi’s name was added to NREGA in 2005 only to influence the 2009 elections.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi accused the Modi government of renaming schemes arbitrarily. She declared outside Parliament that the bill would end MGNREGA, which had supported poor labourers even during COVID. “This Bill is absolutely against our workers, labourers, poor people and we will oppose it tooth and nail,” she said.

The minister countered by highlighting shortcomings in MGNREGA, claiming states spent more on labour than on materials. He noted that successive governments had introduced job guarantee schemes before NREGA.

Key Provisions of VB–G Ram G Bill, 2025

• Employment Guarantee: Increased from 100 to 125 days per year per rural household.
• Agriculture Pause: 60-day break in work annually to ensure labour availability for farming.
• Priority Areas: Reduced to four categories – water security, rural infrastructure, livelihood assets, and climate-resilience works.
• Funding Model:
  • 60:40 Centre-state funding for most states.
  • 90:10 formula for the northeastern and hill states.
  • Full central funding for Union Territories without legislatures.
• Labour Budgeting: Shift from demand-driven allocations to state-wise “normative allocations” decided annually by the Centre.