Jairam Ramesh slams government's hasty passage of VB-G RAM G Bill reframing MGNREGA

New Delhi [India], December 19 : Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday slammed the government's hasty passage of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM G Bill), which reframes MGNREGA, amid uproar in both Houses of Parliament.
He contrasted the bill's introduction, details of which he claims the opposition knew only days prior, against MGNREGA's enactment in 2005, which involved years of deliberation, a Standing Committee review, and unanimous bipartisan support.
Addressing a press conference against the bill's passage, Ramesh said, "The new act was passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha amidst uproar, and it repeals the Mahatma Gandhi MGNREGA."
He contrasted this with the thorough process that led to the enactment of MGNREGA.
"A meeting of Congress Chief Ministers was held in Guwahati in 2002, attended by 15 Chief Ministers, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, with Manmohan Singh also present. In that meeting, it was decided that the central government should introduce a Rural Employment Guarantee Act," Ramesh stated.
"Following this, in our 2004 election manifesto, we promised to enact a law guaranteeing 100 days of employment. Then the Common Minimum Programme was formulated, and for 13 months, from July 2004 to August 2005, this subject was discussed. A draft was prepared, further discussions were held, and the bill was drafted and introduced," he added.
The bill, Ramesh said was then referred to the Standing Committee chaired by Kalyan Singh, a BJP MP.
"There were 7-8 months of debate, and then the law was enacted. It was passed unanimously, with the consent of all parties. It was enacted only after deliberation and analysis by the Standing Committee," he emphasised.
"Now, compare that to the VB G Ram G bill that was introduced. We received information about it just two days ago," Ramesh said, claiming the lack of consultation and hasty procedure.
On Friday, the Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB--G RAM G) Bill, with Rajya Sabha approving the legislation which earlier was passed in the Lok Sabha.
Following the passage of the VB-G RAM G Bill in both Houses Opposition members protested the manner in which the government pushed the legislation through.
Several TMC MPs, including Sagarika Ghose, Derek O'Brien, Sushmita Dev, Dola Sen, Ritabrata Banerjee, Mausam Noor and Prakash Chik Baraik, along with MPs from the INDIA bloc, were present at the protest site.
TMC MP Sagarika Ghose, who was also at the dharna, termed the passage of the Bill as "the second assassination of Mahatma Gandhi" and said it showed disrespect to Rabindranath Tagore, who had conferred the title 'Mahatma' on Gandhi.
Meanwhile, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Bill would play an important role in the welfare of the poor. He accused the Congress of showing disrespect to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.
The Bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work.
As per Section 22 of the Bill, the fund-sharing pattern between the Centre and the states will be 60:40. For the Northeastern states, Himalayan states, and Union Territories, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the ratio will be 90:10.
Section 6 of the Bill allows state governments to notify in advance a period aggregating up to 60 days in a financial year, covering peak agricultural seasons such as sowing and harvesting.