IMPHAL — Opposition Congress in Manipur on Monday strongly criticised the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi from the rural employment act.
After the Parliament approved the Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday gave her assent to the legislation.
Former Manipur Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh strongly criticised the BJP-led NDA government for removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi from the new rural employment act, amending the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005.
Former three-term Chief Minister (2002-2017) Singh, told the media that dropping Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the flagship rural employment programme amounts to an insult to the Father of the Nation.
He questioned the rationale behind replacing Mahatma Gandhi’s name with a different nomenclature, asserting that there was no justification for removing the name of the Father of the Nation from a welfare scheme closely associated with his ideals.
The former Chief Minister said the Congress party condemns the move in the strongest terms. While acknowledging that amendments aimed at improving welfare, including an increase in the guaranteed number of employment days, could be considered acceptable, Ibobi Singh said several aspects of the new legislation remain unclear.
He also criticised the passage of the bill without adequate debate, stating that such an approach undermines the parliamentary system. State Congress President Keisham Meghachandra Singh said that apart from the humiliation of the Father of the Nation in Parliament, the amended Act lacks clarity on several crucial provisions.
He pointed out that while MGNREGA is a rights-based law under which villagers can seek legal remedy, such provisions are absent in the new legislation.
By passing the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, the government has, in effect, issued the “death certificate” of MGNREGA, a historic lifeline for rural India.
“The Congress party is deeply unhappy and strongly opposed to this move, as it strikes at the very foundation of a landmark rights-based legislation that guarantees employment, dignity and livelihood security to millions of rural households. Removing the name of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ from the scheme is a direct insult to the legacy of the Father of the Nation, whose philosophy of Sarvodaya and social justice inspired this historic law,” Meghachandra Singh told the media.
He said that the new Act weakens the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee of employment, thereby depriving rural workers of their legally enforceable right to work and reducing employment to the mercy of budgetary allocations.
“We express serious concern over the changed funding pattern. Shifting a greater financial burden onto states will severely weaken poorer and resource-constrained states, including Manipur, and threaten rural livelihood security.
Furthermore, the new framework undermines the spirit of federalism by centralising control and reducing the autonomy of states and local self-governing institutions,” the state Congress chief stated.
He said that the Congress party will continue to stand firmly with rural workers, farmers and the poor, and will strongly oppose any attempt to dilute their hard-won rights.
The press conference was attended by Congress Working Committee member Gaikhangam Gangmei and other Congress legislators and party leaders.
Changes in MGNREGS a Historic Blunder
AICC General Secretary Sachin Pilot on Monday said the Union government was “destroying” the economic security of rural India by changing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Addressing a press conference at the Congress office in Bengaluru, Pilot said the Union government has committed a “historic blunder”.
“For the first time in the country’s history, the name of a scheme that carried the name of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, has been changed. Earlier, schemes were renamed after Mahatma Gandhi, but now the Centre has done the opposite. This is a direct attack on the economic security of rural India,” he said.
He said MGNREGS was a visionary scheme of the Congress government, which constitutionally guaranteed the right to employment for the poorest sections.
“It assured 100 days of employment per year to one member of a rural poor family,” Pilot said.
Pilot said during crises like the Covid-19 pandemic, MGNREGS served as the only economic safety net for rural areas.
“Without any discussion in Parliament, without consulting state governments and without placing it before the standing committee, the Centre has misused its authority to make changes to the scheme. No one had demanded or requested such changes. This has been done with the intention of insulting the Father of the Nation. It is an assault on the lives of the poor,” he alleged.
He said the Centre has altered the nature of the scheme by converting it from a “demand-driven programme to a centrally controlled one”.
“Earlier, local bodies decided how much work was needed. Now, the Centre will decide where and how much work should be carried out. Mahatma Gandhi believed in self-rule and the strength of gram panchayats, but the Centre is now taking control away from local governments,” he said.
Pilot said earlier the Centre bore 90 per cent of the scheme’s cost, with states contributing the remaining 10 per cent.
“Now this has been changed to a 60:40 ratio, placing an additional burden on state governments,” he said.
He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first speech in Parliament, had allocated Rs 50,000 crore to the scheme but had also termed MGNREGS a “historic mistake” of the Congress government.
“Even after 11 years, the BJP-led government has not been able to discontinue the scheme,” he said.
“This scheme had received global recognition. No other country had implemented a law guaranteeing employment. Now the Centre has effectively dismantled it, while falsely claiming that employment days are being increased from 100 to 125,” he said.
Recalling his tenure as Rajasthan Rural Development Minister, Pilot said nearly 50 lakh person-days of employment were generated during the Covid period.
“This scheme supported 12 to 15 crore people. The Centre’s decision will further increase pressure on rural areas. It is condemnable, and the entire country, including the INDIA alliance, must oppose it. We will exert maximum pressure to ensure the Centre withdraws these changes,” he said.
Referring to the National Herald case, he said false allegations were made against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, but the court refused to take cognisance of the case.
He alleged that the ED has been misused to silence opposition voices and to target Congress leaders.
Notably, President Droupadi Murmu gave assent to the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025.
The Centre said VB-G RAM G enhances the statutory wage employment guarantee to 125 days per financial year for rural households and seeks to advance empowerment, inclusive growth, convergence of development initiatives and saturation-based delivery, thereby strengthening the foundation for a prosperous, resilient and self-reliant Rural Bharat.
It removes earlier dis-entitlement provisions and restores unemployment allowance as a meaningful statutory safeguard, the government said.
If employment is not provided within the stipulated period, the unemployment allowance becomes payable after 15 days, the Centre added. –IANS
