Announcing that the Congress will launch a nationwide campaign from January 5 against the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 that has replaced the UPA-era MGNREGA job guarantee scheme, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said Saturday that the decision to scrap MGNREGA was taken directly by the Prime Minister’s Office without consulting the minister concerned and the Cabinet.
Briefing the press with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after the Congress Working Committee meeting on the party’s strategy on the issue of MGNREGA being replaced by VB-G RAM G Act, Rahul Gandhi said that scrapping the scheme will hurt the rural economy.
Responding to his remarks, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan rejected the allegations as “purely political”, saying the Congress, while in power, lacked both intent and policy to strengthen the rural job guarantee scheme. He called the VB-G RAM G Act “the future”.
Rahul Gandhi said, “I have been told that the decision (to scrap MGNREGA) was taken directly by the PMO without consulting the minister concerned and the Cabinet. You can understand the situation – this is a one-man show. Narendra Modiji does what he wants. The entire benefit will be for a few billionaires… This programme will collapse, and it will hurt the rural economy.”
He said MGNREGA was not just a policy, but was a rights-based concept and that crores of people in the country got a minimum wage because the legislation acted like a baseline for workers payments.
Story continues below this ad
“MGNREGA used to provide political participation, finance and support to the Panchayati Raj system, which is the third tier. This is a direct attack on the rights-based concept. Then it is an attack on states and the federal structure. The money being taken will be snatched by the Centre. This is a concentration of power and finance. This will harm the country and the poor people. It will hurt the poor,” he said.
Kharge said the party will lead the ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’ across the country from January 5.
While the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, has got the President’s assent and replaced the UPA-era MGNREGA, the Congress is hoping to keep the matter alive and discussed its next steps at the CWC meeting.
“People are angry over the repeal of MGNREGA. The government will have to face the consequences,” Kharge said.
“We will fight unitedly for the rights of rural labourers to dignity, employment, wages and timely payment and will protect the rights of demand-based employment and gram sabha,” he said.
The party, he said, will democratically oppose the “conspiracy” to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s name from MGNREGA and to “convert the rights of workers into charity”.
Mentioning the cost-sharing clause between the Centre and state governments under the VB-G RAM G Act, Kharge said states will have an additional expenditure burden and termed it a one-sided decision taken without consultation.
“This law has been brought to crush the poor. We will fight against it on the streets and in Parliament,” he said.
At the CWC meet, Congress leaders took an oath to lead a ‘MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan’ from January 5. Programmes, rallies and public meetings will be held across the country from January 5. A source said a detailed plan for the protest was prepared by Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – she was not present at Saturday’s meeting due to “personal reasons”.
Launching a counter-attack on the Congress, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “This is the same Congress that appended Mahatma Gandhi’s name for electoral gains. This is the same Congress that, from time to time, reduced the budget for MGNREGA… that froze wages. Today, Congress leaders are shedding crocodile tears.”
“Today, when technology, transparency and timely payments are being leveraged to ensure that money reaches straight into the account of the labourer, Congress sees this as an attack,” he said.
Under the VB-G RAM G Act, Chouhan said employment has been made “even stronger”, adding that job days have been increased from 100 to 125.
He said there is also a provision in the new law for unemployment allowance if work is not provided within the stipulated time, and if there is a delay in wage payment.
“The powers of Gram Sabhas and Panchayats are not being weakened; they are being further empowered… Responsibility for implementation, monitoring, and quality assurance has been ensured at the local level,” he said.
In addition to making social audits mandatory through a provision for public review of expenditures and payments under it, emphasis has also been placed on the active participation of women, self-help groups, and the community, Chouhan said.
“Rights are not being granted out of pity; they are being provided with guarantees and dignity,” he said, calling the VB-G RAM G Act “the future”. “Its goal is to empower villages and dignified labourers. Our resolve is Gram Swaraj and self-reliance; our vision is village-based development,” he said.