Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 19: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Modi government, accusing it of dismantling two decades of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by passing the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill.

In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that the newly passed VB-G RAM G legislation was not a reform but a dilution of the rights-based framework of MGNREGA. “Last night, the Modi government demolished twenty years of MGNREGA in one day,” he said, terming the law “anti-village” and “anti-state” in nature.

Gandhi claimed the new law replaces a demand-driven employment guarantee with a rationed scheme controlled from the Centre. “It demolishes the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee and turns it into a scheme controlled from Delhi,” he said.

Highlighting the impact of MGNREGA on rural livelihoods, the Congress leader said the scheme empowered workers by giving them bargaining power. “With real options, exploitation and distress migration fell, wages increased and working conditions improved, while rural infrastructure was strengthened. That leverage is precisely what this government wants to break,” he alleged.

He further claimed that by capping workdays and creating more avenues to deny employment, the new law weakens the only safety net available to the rural poor. Recalling the Covid-19 period, Gandhi said MGNREGA played a crucial role in preventing millions from slipping into hunger and debt when livelihoods collapsed.

Gandhi also underlined the scheme’s significance for women, stating that women consistently accounted for more than half of the total person-days generated. “When you ration a jobs programme, it is women, Dalits, Adivasis, landless workers and the poorest OBC communities who are pushed out first,” he said.

Criticising the legislative process, Gandhi alleged that the Bill was rushed through Parliament without adequate debate or scrutiny. He said the opposition’s demand to refer the Bill to a standing committee was rejected despite its far-reaching implications for rural livelihoods. “A law that rewires the rural social contract should not be passed without expert consultation and public hearings,” he said.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of centralising power, Gandhi claimed the move was aimed at weakening labour and diluting the bargaining power of rural India, while being projected as reform.

Calling MGNREGA one of the world’s most successful poverty alleviation and empowerment programmes, Gandhi said the Congress would oppose the new law. “We will stand with workers, panchayats and states to defeat this move and ensure the law is withdrawn,” he asserted.

Parliament on Thursday night passed the VB-G RAM G Bill, which replaces the 20-year-old MGNREGA and promises 125 days of rural wage employment annually. The Bill was cleared by the Lok Sabha and later passed by the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote amid strong opposition protests over the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme and concerns over increased financial burden on states.