‘Viksit Bharat-G Ram Ji’ will replace the MNREGA scheme: Modi government is bringing a new bill; Priyanka Gandhi asks, “Why are they removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name?”

The Modi government is set to abolish the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and introduce a new rural employment law. The bill has been listed for discussion in the current winter session of Parliament.

A copy of the bill was circulated among Lok Sabha MPs on Monday. It is titled the ‘Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025’.

The new bill states that its objective is to create a new framework for rural development in line with the national vision of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’. The number of workdays will be increased from 100 to 125 days. The Congress party has opposed the government’s decision. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi questioned why Mahatma Gandhi’s name was being removed.

Earlier, on December 12, it was reported that the Union Cabinet had renamed MGNREGA as the Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Scheme. However, no official notification from the government was released.

Decision based on socio-economic changes

According to the objectives outlined in the bill, while MGNREGA has provided employment to rural families over the past 20 years, it needs to be strengthened further in light of the socio-economic changes that have taken place in villages.

Under the new law, every rural household willing to undertake unskilled work will be guaranteed 125 days of paid employment annually. The aim is to achieve the holistic development of villages in line with the goals of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Question: Will MGNREGA be completely abolished, or will both schemes run concurrently?

Answer: MGNREGA will be completely abolished. The new bill explicitly states the repeal of the 2005 MGNREGA Act. This means that only VB-G RAM G will be in effect after the new law is implemented.

Question: When will the new law come into effect, and what will happen to the old job cards?

Answer: The new law will come into effect after it is passed by Parliament and receives the President’s assent. According to the bill, states will have to formulate their new schemes within six months of the law’s implementation. States will have to implement a new registration/identification system under the new scheme, which will be digital and biometric-based.

Question: Will there be any change in wage rates, or will they remain the same?

Answer: The bill does not clearly specify the fixed wage amount. This means that wage rates will be determined separately by the central and state governments, as is currently the case with MGNREGA. It cannot be said at this time whether wages will increase or not.

Question: Will everyone get 125 days of employment, or will there be conditions?

Answer: 125 days of employment will be provided as a guarantee, but with certain conditions. For example, the family must be from a rural area, adult members must be willing to do unskilled labor, and the work will only be available in public works determined by the government. That is, it will not be automatic, but will be provided upon request.

Question: What will poor laborers do if they don’t get work during the sowing/harvesting season?

Answer: The new bill has been introduced keeping this situation in mind. State governments will have the authority to temporarily suspend these works for a certain period during sowing and harvesting seasons, so that there is no shortage of laborers in the fields, and neither farmers nor laborers suffer losses. This means that laborers will be able to work in agriculture during that time, and government work will be provided later.

Priyanka Gandhi had said: I don’t understand the logic behind changing the name

When the news of changing the name of MGNREGA came to light, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad said that she did not understand the logic behind the decision to change the name of the MGNREGA scheme. It leads to wasteful expenditure.

She said, “I don’t understand what the mentality behind this is. First of all, it is Mahatma Gandhi’s name, and when it is changed, government resources are spent on it again. From offices to stationery, everything has to be renamed, so it’s a big, expensive process. So what is the benefit of doing this?”

Congress had said: The Modi government has changed the names of 32 of our schemes

Congress’s Supriya Shrinate had shared a video on the renaming of MGNREGA. In it, he said that Narendra Modi has renamed MGNREGA as the Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Scheme. Modi used to call this very MGNREGA a symbol of the Congress’s failures, but the reality is that this scheme proved to be a lifeline for rural India.

This habit of Modi’s of renaming Congress schemes and claiming them as his own is nothing new. This is exactly what he has been doing for 11 years: renaming UPA schemes, putting his own stamp on them, and then using them for publicity.