MGNREGA

According to an official letter issued a few days ago, the gram sabhas should ensure active participation of villagers, workers, women, SC/ST households and other vulnerable groups

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Three laws passed in Parliament could boost central revenues, reshape GST cess flows, shift MGNREGA costs to states and create new budget headroom ahead of the 2026-27 Union Budget

President Murmu clears the Viksit Bharat Rozgar Act, raising guaranteed rural workdays to 125 and overhauling funding norms, seasonality rules, and budget limits

The proposal to rename the rural employment scheme, raise the number of guaranteed workdays and alter its cost-sharing structure has reignited debate over its implementation and intent

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday demanded that the Centre withdraw the VB-G RAM G Act, saying it will adversely impact the poor and put additional financial burden on states. Badal also demanded that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme be restored. The former deputy chief minister's remarks came a day after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, which replaces the MGNREGA and has a provision for 125 days of wage employment for rural workers. Addressing the media in Amritsar, Badal said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) ensured 100 days of employment and it was completely funded by the Centre. Referring to the VB-G RAM G Act, he said, "The government should withdraw its decision as it will directly impact the lives of the poor." He also criticised the government's decision to drop Mahatma

On Sunday, Jairam Ramesh said MGNREGA's core character has been altered and announced that the Congress Working Committee on December 27 will finalise a nationwide action plan

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday strongly criticised the Union government's VB-G RAM G act 2025 that replaced MGNREGA, claiming that changes in the new legislation weaken and undermine the previous act's core promise as a rights-based rural employment programme. In a post on social media platform 'X', Priyank Kharge said the act would gradually make the scheme untenable by transforming it from a demand-driven legal entitlement into a supply-driven arrangement, thereby stripping citizens of their right to demand work. He observed that while the Centre would retain most decision-making powers, states would be forced to shoulder the bulk of the financial and administrative burden. "Much has been spoken about the VB-G RAM G Bill. But beyond everything else, these changes will slowly make the scheme untenable and eventually kill the idea of a rights-based rural employment guarantee," Priyank Kharge, son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said in his post. The minister,

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

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday gave her assent to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, the Rural Development Ministry said. The VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, was passed by Parliament, amid opposition protests. It seeks to replace the existing rural employment law, MGNREGA, and guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household per financial year. According to the government, the new scheme aims to establish a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of 'Viksit Bharat 2047'.

Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Saturday said the party is hurt by the government's move to pass the VB-G RAM G Bill in Parliament, replacing the MGNREGA and thereby "removing" Mahatma Gandhi's name, but stressed that he lives in the hearts of the people. Addressing a press conference as part of the Congress' nationwide campaign on MGNREGA and the latest development in the National Herald case, he said, "MGNREGA has two aspects. One is the emotional aspect for us, for our country." "MGNREGA was associated with Mahatma Gandhi's personality, with his greatness, with his name. They have removed it. A question arises about what benefit anyone will get by it and what purpose it will serve," Khurshid said. Gandhiji continues to live in the hearts of the people of India, and his name cannot be erased, he said. "We are hurt, but no one can diminish it, no one can erase it. The public will give the answer to this." The former external affairs minister said Gandhiji's name was not just ..

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday accused the Modi government of bulldozing the MGNREGA, and asserted that the "black law" that seeks to repeal it will be defied the lakhs of party workers. In a video message, she said that by weakening MGNREGA, the Modi government had attacked the interests of crores of farmers, labourers, and landless across the country. She alleged that over the past 11 years, the Centre had ignored the interests of the rural poor. Gandhi said she vividly remembers the day 20 years ago, when Manmohan Singh was prime minister, and the MGNREGA Act was passed in Parliament by consensus. The former party president said it was "such a revolutionary step," and became a means of livelihood for the deprived, the exploited, and the poorest of the poor. She said, due to MGNREGA, migration in search of work came to a halt, a legal right to employment was provided, and gram panchayats were empowered. "Through MGNREGA, a concrete step was ta

Civil society groups say the VB-G RAM G Bill could weaken casual labour's bargaining power, as MGNREGA served as a safety net and fall back option when farm wages turned unattractive

A day after Parliament passed the VB-G RAM G Bill that seeks to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA, the Congress on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he is suffering from a "case of acute acronym-itis". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh posted on X a cartoon representation on X which read: "All new A.C.R.O.N.Y.M MANTRALAYA - Administrative Commission for Renaming Old Schemes -- New Yet Meaningless". "The PM is suffering from a case of acute acronym-itis," Ramesh said in his post accompanying the cartoon. His dig came a day after the passage of two bills in Parliament with catchy acronyms -- Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill and the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill. The VB-G RAM G Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote, hours after the Lok Sabha cleared it on Thursday, amid strong protests by the opposition

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the Modi government of demolishing 20 years of MGNREGA in a single day, and dubbed the new VB-G RAM G legislation as anti village. Noting that the VB-G RAM G Bill is not a revamp of MGNREGA, Gandhi said in a post on X, Last night, the Modi government demolished twenty years of MGNREGA in one day. 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. The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also said that 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, Gandhi alleged. He said by capping work and creating more ways to deny it, the VB-G RAM G Bill weakens the one instrument the rural poor had. We saw what

Opposition leaders staged a 12-hour overnight protest dharna in Parliament complex on Thursday night, while protesting against the passage of the VB-G RAM G bill that seeks to replace the MGNREGA rural employment programme and said they would take to the streets across the country. Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose accused the Union government of bulldozing the VB- G RAM G bill, as opposition MPs sat on a 12-hour dharna in the Parliament complex. The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill was passed by Parliament amid opposition's protests, with the Rajya Sabha giving it its nod post midnight. Ghose said the manner in which the Modi government has brought in this completely "anti-poor, anti-people, anti-farmer, anti-rural poor" VBGRG bill, and has done away with the MGNREGA. "This is an insult to India's poor, it is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, it is an insult to Rabindranath Tagore. With just five hours' notice,

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA with a new initiative that guarantees rural jobs for 125 days every year amid vociferous protests by the Opposition. Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan responded to the eight-hour discussion on The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, asserting that the Modi government was ensuring that the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi were upheld through various initiatives taken by it. "Congress killed ideals of Bapu, NDA ensured Bapu lives through pucca houses built under the PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, Ayushman Bharat," Chouhan said listing out government schemes for welfare of the poor. Opposition members trooped to the well of the House raising slogans against the government from dropping Mahatma Gandhi's name from the rural jobs initiative and tearing copies of the G RAM G Bill and flinging it towards the chair. The Lok Sabh

MGNREGA data show work demand typically dipped between July and November over the past 10 years before rising from December

Lok Sabha starts debate on VB-G RAM G that replaces MGNREGA, Parl Panel head wants new bill to be send to standing committee for detailed examination

Today's wrap looks at the new rural jobs law, the push to open civil nuclear power to private investors, a US strategic reset, RBI's views on bank ownership, and a book on American power