Moga: Kapurthala MLA and senior Congress leader Rana Gurjeet Singh today strongly criticized the Government of India for rechristening the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–G RAM G) Act, 2025.
Addressing the media in Moga, Rana Gurjeet Singh said that he has no objection to the naming of new schemes and that the Union government is free to introduce as many programmes as it wishes under the banner of “Viksit Bharat.” However, he objected to what he termed the “stereotyping and dilution” of a landmark welfare legislation that has served as a lifeline for rural India for nearly two decades.
The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16 and after being passed it has been given presidential nod. The law maker reminded that MGNREGA, brought into force in 2005 and implemented from February 2, 2006, guaranteed 100 days of wage employment annually to every rural household under the Dr. Manmohan Singh led UPA government. It was a demand-driven programme that empowered Gram Panchayats to select works under the scheme as part of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). This decentralized structure, he said, strengthened grassroots democracy and ensured that local development priorities were addressed.
Rana Gurjeet Singh emphasized that during the coronavirus pandemic, MGNREGA, along with the National Food Security Act, 2013, played a crucial role in preventing large-scale rural distress. In the financial year 2024–25 alone, the scheme generated 286.18 crore person-days of employment, supporting 5.78 crore households and providing work to 7.88 crore individuals. Women constituted 58 percent of the beneficiaries, while 18% belonged to Scheduled Castes and another 18% to Scheduled Tribes. Additionally, 4.82 lakh persons with disabilities benefited from the programme.
Criticizing the proposed VB–G RAM G Act, the Kapurthala MLA and former minister in Punjab said it would impose an additional financial burden on already resource-constrained state governments, particularly Punjab, which is facing an acute fiscal crisis.
In Punjab, average work under MGNREGA was around 40 days and the claim of 125 days is meaningless. He adds that the law was passed unilaterally without consulting stakeholder such as labour unions and Parliament. He termed the new law as an attack on federalism as the real aim is centralisation of power.
While the law promises to increase guaranteed employment from 100 to 125 days per year, he cautioned that this assurance is conditional upon the Union government’s budgetary allocations. The VB-G RAM G Act’s financing framework requires states to contribute a significant portion (typically 40 %) of scheme costs, marking a major shift from the previous Centre-dominated funding under MGNREGA
Unlike MGNREGA, which was demand-based, the new bill proposes a normative allocation system, where funds will be allocated to states based on “objective parameters” prescribed in the rules. “A critical question arises,” Rana Gurjeet Singh said, “what happens if the Union government’s estimated allocations are insufficient to provide 125 days of guaranteed employment to rural households?”
He further questioned why the Centre was reluctant to shoulder its responsibility towards the poor when a significant portion of taxes, including GST collected from states, flows into the central exchequer.
Explaining the origins of MGNREGA, Rana Gurjeet Singh recalled that it was introduced by the UPA government led by the Indian National Congress to tackle rural unemployment, reduce poverty and distress migration, and provide economic security to rural families. Before its enactment, rural employment depended on uncertain schemes with no legal guarantee of work, leaving farmers, labourers, and landless families vulnerable during droughts and lean agricultural seasons.
He concluded by urging the Union government to protect the spirit of MGNREGA and ensure that any new legislation strengthens, rather than weakens, rural employment guarantees.