Narendra Modi Govt Brings To An End Two Decade Old Rural Job Scheme MGNREGA

Two decades old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005 is finally replaced by Viksit Bharat – Guarantee For Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill 2025 on the last day of the Winter Session of the Parliament on December 19. Lok Sabha passed the Bill in the day on December 18, and it was tabled the same day in the Rajya Sabha which started debating it after 6.40 PM and passed it just after the midnight at 12.32 AM, in absence of the opposition. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16. It goes without saying, it was hurriedly passed.

After the midnight passage of the G RAM G Bill, the opposition parties staged a 12-hour overnight sit-in protest in the Parliament complex. Rajya Sabha passed the Bill by a voice vote after noisy scenes in the House and walkout by the opposition, when their demand to send the legislation to a parliamentary committee was rejected.

In the day on December 18, the opposition staged strong protests in the Lok Sabha and in the Parliament complex. Members of the opposition wanted the Bill sent to a standing committee of the Parliament. They protested in the Well of the house when the Lok Sabha Speaker said that the legislation had been discussed at length. Opposition MPs even tore the copies of the Bill.

The opposition MPs held protest march on December 18 in the morning in Parliament Complex demanding withdrawal of VB – G RAM G Bill. With photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, the MGNREGA is named after, the MPs of opposition political parties took out a protest march from the Gandhi statue at Prerna Sthal to Makar Dwar, raising slogan against the government led by PM Narendra Modi.

On the concluding day of the Winter Session on December 19, when the proceeding began in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House sine die. Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan also adjourned the House sine die after reading out a synopsis of the legislative business transacted during the winter session, which began on December 1.

Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha criticised the disruption of the Houses by the opposition. Nevertheless, the Opposition have criticised the Bill and the way Houses were conducted. Opposition had demanded withdrawal of the Bill or sending it to a parliamentary committee for detailed examination. The ruling establishment ignored the opposition demand and had conveyed from the beginning that they intended to get the G RAM G Bill passed in the current session.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has said that the G RAM G Bill bulldozed through Parliament without proper scrutiny. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “We are unhappy about that for various reasons. It really takes out the heart of the entire Mahatma Gandhi rural employment program.”

While replying the debate, Union Minister Shivraj Sigh Chouhan said that MGNREGA was nothing but a tool of corruption and claimed that the new law has been brought after discussion with stakeholders. Opposition leaders said that MGNREGA was a support for the poorest of the poor, and the new Bill is anti-poor.

Many objections have been raised against the G RAM G Bill including that it will put an end to the rural people’s right to get works on demand under MGNREGA scheme, which is the only rural employment guarantee programme in India. Within six months from the date of commencement of the G RAM G Act, the states will have to make a scheme consistent with the provisions of the new legislation. States are objecting because the G RAM G Bill seeks to put considerable financial burden on state and UTs. Critics of the G RM G Bill said that it would dismantle the demand-driven framework of MGNREGA, remove its universal implementation provision, and centralise the decision making.

The Modi government’s decision to dismantle the demand driven MGNREGA is criticises no only by the opposition in India, but also by independent thinkers across the world. In an open letter to the Modi government, scholars, policymakers, lawyers, and civic actors (all friends of India from across the world),express profound concern regarding the imminent repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). They urged a recommitment to this landmark legislation, which stands as the world’s most significant policy operationalizing a demand-driven, legal right to employment. They said, dismantling MGNREGA would be a historic error.

Opposition ruled states have criticised the repeal of the MGNREGA. Opposition ruled Punjab government has decided to convene a special session of Vidhan Sabha over replacement of MGNREGA. CM Bhagwant Mann alleges that the BJP government at the centre is trying to hit livelihoods of the poor.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has sharply criticised the replacement of MGNREGA and the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme, calling it a matter of “deep shame.” She argued Bengal would rename its own rural jobs scheme after Gandhi in response. It should be recalled that Centre had stopped funding MGNREGA in West Bengal, and in October 2025, the Supreme Court had cleared the way for its implementation in the State. It is alleged that Centre has brought the G RAM G Bill to bypass the judicial order.

Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin has opposed the G RAM G Bill and criticised increasing the financial burden on states. Kerala has also criticised increasing the financial burden on the state and even termed the new legislation anti-poor, anti-worker, and anti-women, because 90 per cent of the MGNREGA workers in Kerala are women. Even NDA ally TDP has opposed the increased financial burden to the state and has demanded special assistance to compensate the loss.

The Congress party across states has condemned the bill and planned nationwide protests, arguing the move undermines rural employment rights and the legacy of a UPA-introduced scheme. Its leaders called the replacement anti-poor and warned it would hurt the rural poor and women workers who make up a large share of MGNREGA beneficiaries.

INDIA bloc parties and NREGA Sangharsh Morcha have vowed to protest across the country, which has already started from today December 19. The Secular Progressive Alliance led by the ruling DMK, has announced a state-wide protest on December 24 in Tamil Nadu. Opposition says the by stopping funding, giving no work, and by not paying workers in time, the Modi government crippled the MGNREGA, which is ultimately dismantled. (IPA Service)