Rahul Gandhi on G RAM G Bill

Calling the replaced scheme anti-state and anti-village, the senior Congress leader said the government has weakened the bargaining power of the rural workers as MGNREGA had been reinforcing the rural infrastructure.

“Last night, the Modi government demolished twenty years of MGNREGA in one day. VB–G RAM G isn’t a “revamp” of MGNREGA. It demolishes the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee and turns it into a rationed scheme which is controlled from Delhi. It is anti-state and anti-village by design. MGNREGA gave the rural worker bargaining power. With real options, exploitation and distress migration fell, wages increased, working conditions improved, all while building and reviving rural infrastructure. That leverage is precisely what this government wants to break,” Rahul Gandhi posted on X.

The Congress leaders highlighted the role of MGNREGA during Covid pandemic, asserting that the scheme had saved crores of people from hunger and falling into debt. He said the scheme had helped women and people from Dalits, Adivasis and poor OBC communities.

“By capping work and building in more ways to deny it, VB–G RAM G weakens the one instrument which the rural poor had. We saw what MGNREGA meant during COVID. When the economy shut down and livelihoods collapsed, it kept crores from falling into hunger and debt. And it helped women the most - year after year, women have contributed more than half the person-days. When you ration a jobs programme, it is women, Dalits, Adivasis, landless workers and the poorest OBC communities who get pushed out first,” he said.

Alleging that the Bill was bulldozed through Parliament without scrutiny, the Lok Sabha LoP said the Opposition’s demand to send the Bill to a Standing Committee was rejected. He said PM Modi was “weakening” labour by such acts.

“To top it all, this law was bulldozed through Parliament without proper scrutiny. The opposition demand to send the bill to a Standing Committee was rejected. PM Modi’s targets are clear: weaken labour, weaken the leverage of rural India, especially Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis, centralise power, and then sell slogans as ‘reform’,” the LoP added.

Parliament gives nod to G RAM G Bill

The Rajya Sabha passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Bill with a voice vote at midnight. The bill was passed in Lok Sabha on Thursday afternoon despite the protests and Opposition staging a walkout.