Congress announces 45-day ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ to protest against VB-G RAM G scheme

New Delhi: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Saturday announced a 45-day national agitation from January 10 to February 25 - titled MGNREGA Bachao Sangram - demanding the withdrawal of the Modi government's VB-G RAM G scheme and the restoration of the UPA-era MGNREGA as a rights-based programme. The party has also objected to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the rural employment scheme.

Announcing the three-phase agitation at a press conference, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said the Congress would explore "all options", including legal recourse, while also seeking coordination with INDIA bloc partners and Opposition-ruled states.

The agitation will include gheraos of state assemblies, four zonal rallies, district-level fasts and dharnas, panchayat-level chaupals, and the distribution of letters from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Senior party leaders will participate across the programme.


Asked whether Congress-ruled states would refuse to implement the VB-G RAM G scheme, Venugopal said the new Act was "anti-people and impossible to implement", adding that the party would work to halt it.

"Through the MGNREGA Bachao Sangram, we aim to defend the right to work, protect Panchayati Raj institutions, and stand with women workers, Dalits, Adivasis and the rural poor - the main beneficiaries of MGNREGA - and take this issue to every village," Venugopal said.

In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: "The Indian National Congress makes three demands: withdraw the VB-G RAM G Act; restore MGNREGA as a rights-based law; and restore the Right to Work and Panchayats' authority."

Targeting the Centre, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said the new law had "undone the rights-based MGNREGA framework," adding: "The only guarantee in the new scheme is the guarantee of centralisation, as the Centre reserves the right to decide all funding allocations."