Lok Sabha Approves Bill to Replace MGNREGA Amid Opposition Protests

Mamata slams Centre, says Bengal's job scheme will be renamed after Gandhi

PTI, NEW DELHI, DEC 18, 2025: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a Bill that seeks to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA with a new initiative that guarantees rural jobs for 125 days every year, amid vociferous protests by the Opposition, and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asserting that the change was necessary to fix shortcomings in the scheme.

Responding to the eight-hour discussion on the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-GRAMG) Bill, Rural Development Minister Chouhan lashed out at the Congress, claiming that the Opposition party had "killed" the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi many times over and used his name to further political gains. Chouhan said during the UPA rule, MGNREGA was riddled with corruption and the expected amount of funds was not spent on procurement of material for designated jobs.

"Funds were not allotted to the states as expected. MGNREGA was riddled with problems. As per the Act, 60 per cent of the funds were to be spent on labour and 40 per cent on material. But, only 26 per cent was spent on material and funds were siphoned off. Corruption was rampant under MGNREGA," he said.

Chouhan said the GRAMG initiative was brought after extensive deliberations as it was felt that an amount to the tune of Rs 10-11 lakh crores should not be spent on merely paying wages but used for creating permanent assets.

"We have made provisions to improve employment. On the other hand, this vast amount will be used to build fully developed villages which has been the goal of the Modi government," he said.

Chouhan said the GRAMG initiative will focus on water security by creating lakes, micro-irrigation channels, developing core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and special works to mitigate extreme weather events. He said all the assets created will be aggregated to the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack.

At the outset of the session, Congress member K C Venugopal urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the Bill to a Parliamentary committee for threadbare examination. Birla turned down the demand, saying an eight-hour debate had taken place on the Bill and 98 members across party lines had spoken at length till past midnight on Wednesday night.

As Opposition members raised slogans and tore copies of the Bill, Chouhan hit out at the Congress for "insulting" Mahatma Gandhi and "killing" his ideals time and again. "The Opposition is murdering Bapu's ideals. I listened to the honourable members until 1:30 am at night. Just having your say and not listening to the views of others too is violence," Chouhan said.

The minister asserted that the Modi government was ensuring that the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi were upheld through various initiatives taken by it. Opposition MPs trooped to the well of the House, raising slogans against the government from dropping Mahatma Gandhi's name from the rural jobs initiative and tearing copies of the GRAMG Bill and flinging it towards the chair. The Lok Sabha passed the GRAMG Bill by a voice vote amid uproar by the Opposition. The Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha for the day after the Bill was passed.

Chouhan said the Congress, which is accusing the government of dropping Mahatma Gandhi's name, initially named its rural employment scheme National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA). "Initially it was just NREGA and Mahatma Gandhi's name was not included. Later, when the 2009 general elections came, Congress remembered Bapu to get votes," the minister said. He added that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who implemented the MGNREGA in a proper manner.

In Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her government would rename its rural job guarantee programme after Mahatma Gandhi, slamming the BJP-led government at the Centre for seeking to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA with the VB-GRAMG scheme. Speaking at a business and industry conclave here, Mamata said if some political parties "failed to show respect to our national icons, we will do it", without directly naming the BJP. "I feel ashamed that they have decided to remove Mahatma Gandhi's name from the NREGA programme, because I too belong to this country. We are now forgetting even the Father of the Nation," she said at the Dhana Dhanya auditorium, addressing the business meet.

"We will now rename the Karmashree scheme of our state after Mahatma Gandhi," the Chief Minister added. Under the 'Karmashree' scheme, the government claims to provide up to 75 days of work to beneficiaries, despite what Banerjee described as the Centre blocking funds under the MGNREGS.