Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday termed the Centre’s decision to “scrap” the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgaar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB-G RAM-G) 2025 an “insult” Mahatma Gandhi and “a kick” in the stomach of poor people.
At the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Kharge called for a nationwide stir against the move, asking his party members to “formulate a concrete plan” for the same.
“In the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament, the Modi government has scrapped MGNREGA, leaving millions of poor and vulnerable people without support. In addition to kicking the poor in the stomach, the Modi government has stabbed them in the back. Scrapping MGNREGA is an insult to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.
Kharge said the new Act violates the Rights to work, education, food and health, which are enshrined in the Constitution’s directive principles.
“This violates the Rights enshrined in Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs) of the Constitution, on which the UPA government took significant steps, such as the Right to Work, Right to Food, Right to Education, and Right to Health. I am deeply saddened that the Modi government has launched a premeditated and brutal attack on the Right to Work. The Modi government is not concerned with the poor, but only with the profits of a handful of big capitalists,” he said.
Reminding his party people of previous Congress-led movements that forced the BJP to backtrack on its decisions, such as the farmers’ protests in 2020-21 against the three farm laws, the Congress President said there must be strong opposition to the Act in “every corner of the country”.
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“At this moment, there is a need for a nationwide movement. There must be strong opposition to this in every corner of the country. Because earlier, in January 2015, when the Modi government amended the Land Acquisition Act in the interests of corporates, Congress workers took to the streets, and the government had to back down,” he said.
“In June 2020, amidst the lockdown, Modi ji brought in an Ordinance and imposed the three black farm laws. Despite opposition from the Opposition in Parliament, the laws were passed. Over 700 farmers who were protesting against it attained martyrdom. The government laid nails, sprayed water cannons, and suppressed them,” he further said.
The senior party leader said his party “stood firmly with the farmers”, following which “the Prime Minister had to apologise to the farmers and repeal the laws”.
“Rahul ji had predicted the repeal of these black laws much earlier. And recently, he has also predicted that the Modi government will have to restore MGNREGA again,” Kharge added.
The Parliament passed the VB-G RAM G Bill on December 18, with the President assenting to it on December 21.
The law guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work.
As per Section 22 of the law, the fund-sharing pattern between the Central Government and the State Governments will be 60:40, while for the North Eastern States, Himalayan States, and Union Territories (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir), it will be 90:10.
Section 6 of the law allows the state governments to notify in advance, a period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting.
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