Amid protests, Lok Sabha passes VB-G RAM G bill

New Delhi, Dec 18: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill amid protests by opposition parties, leading to repeated disruptions and the adjournment of the House following a ruckus.

The Bill replaces the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and provides a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.

Moving the Bill for consideration and passage, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the legislation would ensure employment and help realise Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of self-reliant villages.

He said the VB–G RAM G Bill aimed at all-round development of villages, making them poverty-free and accelerating their growth.

Opposition parties strongly objected to the repeal and renaming of MGNREGA.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra accused the government of undermining Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy, saying the Bill destroyed the idea of Ram Rajya “in letter and spirit”.

She also alleged the government had “dishonoured” Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore by removing Gandhi’s name from the landmark rural employment law.

Congress MP Jai Prakash termed the removal of Gandhi’s name from the legislation “the biggest crime” and claimed the proposed law would impose additional financial liabilities on states.

He said it would weaken grassroots institutions such as gram sabhas by curtailing their role in deciding works under the scheme, describing the Bill as “anti-poor” and “anti-Dalit”.

Defending the legislation, BJP MP Brijmohan Agarwal said the previous Congress government had reduced MGNREGA to a “dig the pit and cover the pit” programme that failed to strengthen the rural economy and was marred by corruption.

He claimed the inclusion of “Ram” in the new law would act as a deterrent to corruption. Speaker Om Birla said the debate on the Bill had been scheduled over two days, with the minister replying on Thursday before its passage.

As per the legislation, states will be required to frame schemes in line with the new law within six months of the Act coming into force.