The Rajya Sabha passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill late Thursday night, following a day of heated debate and opposition protests. The bill, which aims to replace the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), was passed by voice vote amid significant dissent.
The passage of the VB-G RAM G Bill marks a major shift in the landscape of rural employment guarantee schemes in India. The bill had already been passed in the Lok Sabha, also amidst opposition protests, with some members tearing copies of the bill and raising slogans. Opposition parties have criticized the government's "rushed approach" to passing the bill, alleging that Upper House members were given only 45 minutes to propose amendments. Following the Rajya Sabha's decision, opposition members staged a dharna outside the Samvidhan Sadan in the Parliament complex. Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien called the bill "draconian" and said it would "murder" MGNREGA. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also criticized the Centre's decision.
Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defended the bill, citing large-scale corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA as a key reason for the change. The government has presented the VB-G RAM G Bill as a "major upgrade" that fixes structural weaknesses of MGNREGA while enhancing employment, transparency, planning, and accountability. The new bill aims to provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to rural households whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work. It also focuses on creating durable rural infrastructure through water security projects, core rural infrastructure development, livelihood-related infrastructure, and special works to mitigate extreme weather events.
However, the VB-G RAM G Bill has faced criticism on several fronts. One major point of contention is the shift in funding norms. Under MGNREGA, the Union government bore the entire labor costs and 75% of the material costs. The new bill proposes a 60:40 cost-sharing arrangement between the Union government and the states. Critics argue that this change will place a greater financial burden on states. Additionally, the bill centralizes decision-making power with the Union government, allowing it to determine state-wise normative allocations for each financial year. States exceeding this allocation will have to bear the excess expenditure. Some experts argue that the new bill weakens the rights-based framework of MGNREGA, potentially depressing wages and undermining rural livelihoods. They also suggest that the bill may reduce the power of Gram Panchayats to allocate work.
Despite government assertions that the new scheme offers stronger guarantees, increasing assured workdays from 100 to 125 and introducing weekly wage payments, skeptics remain unconvinced. Economist Jean Drèze noted that only a small percentage of households actually receive the full 100 days of work under MGNREGA. Concerns remain about the bill's potential impact on women, landless laborers, and Dalit workers, with critics suggesting it could dilute protections for these vulnerable groups. The passage of the VB-G RAM G Bill is expected to have far-reaching consequences for rural employment and development in India, with its impact to be closely watched in the coming years.
