Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Jul 8: The Congress on Wednesday intensified its criticism of the Centre's Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, alleging that the legislation weakens the constitutional right to work and places an excessive financial burden on state governments.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described the new law as "Rozgar Adhikar chori" and claimed it dismantles the rights-based framework of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Sharing an article by former Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu on social media platform X, Ramesh said the new legislation had been "bulldozed through" to replace MGNREGA.
"VB-G RAM G is really Rozgar Adhikar chori. It replaces a constitutional right to work that empowered gram panchayats with a highly centralised scheme that places an intolerably heavy financial burden on state governments," Ramesh said.
He further alleged that the legislation introduces technology "not to facilitate but to exclude" beneficiaries and claimed that, unlike MGNREGA, it does not guarantee employment throughout the year.
In his article, Drabu argued that MGNREGA was a rights-based, demand-driven programme that legally guaranteed 100 days of unskilled employment to every eligible rural household. He contended that the new Act replaces this legal entitlement with "a formula-driven, centrally determined transfer."
The Congress has opposed the legislation since it came into force on July 1, demanding that it be repealed and that a strengthened version of MGNREGA be reinstated.
The party has also criticised the wage structure under the new law, describing it as inadequate, and urged the Centre to implement the 2019 recommendations of the expert committee headed by Dr Anoop Satpathy, with inflation-linked revisions, to ensure fair wages for rural workers.
The VB-G RAM G Act replaced the nearly two-decade-old MGNREGA, which was introduced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.