Shivraj Singh Chouhan tables G RAM G Bill in Lok Sabha, invokes Gandhi

New Delhi: A Bill seeking to replace the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and provide 125 days of guaranteed rural employment annually was taken up for discussion in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, triggering sharp political divisions.

Moving the Bill for consideration, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the proposed Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission-Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Bill aims to make villages self-reliant and poverty-free, in line with Mahatma Gandhi's vision of rural empowerment.

"The Bill will ensure employment while driving holistic development in villages," Chouhan said, adding that it would spur growth and strengthen rural livelihoods.

According to the draft legislation, the law will provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work. States will be required to frame schemes consistent with the new law within six months of its commencement.


Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the debate would be held on Wednesday, with the minister replying on Thursday before the Bill is put to vote.

The legislation has, however, emerged as a major political flashpoint, primarily over two issues: the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the scheme and the proposed shift to a 60:40 Centre-state cost-sharing ratio, on the lines of other centrally sponsored schemes.

Initiating the debate, Congress MP Jai Prakash said removing the name of the Father of the Nation from the law was "the biggest crime". He argued that the proposed legislation would impose fresh financial liabilities on states and weaken grassroots institutions such as gram sabhas by curtailing their role in deciding works under the scheme. The Hisar MP described the Bill as "anti-poor" and "anti-Dalit", alleging it reflected a pro-rich orientation.

Even NDA ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) said it supported the Bill in principle, but its floor leader Krishna Devarayalu cautioned that the revised funding formula would impose a heavy financial burden on states such as Andhra Pradesh. "The Centre should continue funding the scheme the way it has been doing," he said.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra accused the Centre of undermining both the legacy and spirit of MGNREGA by repealing and renaming it.

"This Bill destroys Mahatma Gandhi's idea of Ram Rajya, both in letter and spirit," Moitra said, accusing the government of dishonouring Gandhi as well as Rabindranath Tagore, who conferred on him the title "Mahatma". Participating in the debate, Moitra said MGNREGA had transformed livelihood security in rural India and was passed with rare cross-party consensus. "All parties once stood together shouting 'rozgar guarantee zindabad'," she said.