"Opposition doing politics, names are changed from time to time as per necessity": Arjun Ram Meghwal on MGNREGA renaming row

New Delhi [India], December 19 : Following the row over renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM G Bill), Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that the opposition was doing politics on this, and names have been changed from time to time as per necessity.
Speaking to ANI, Arjun Ram Meghwal said, "The Winter Session of Parliament was very good. Most of the bills that came were related to reforms. The VB-G RAM G Bill that came into place of MGNREGA was also related to reforms. People living in villages wanted the reform. The bill on insurance was also a part of the reform. The opposition is doing politics on this. Didn't you change the name of the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana? Does that mean an insult to Jawaharlal Nehru ji? Names are changed from time to time as per necessity."
"Didn't they change the names? In this, the name has not only been changed, but to provide infrastructure in villages, the rural population is welcoming the amendments to this scheme's rules. Their opposition is for political reasons; they also acknowledge that the improvements are good," he further said.
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 was earlier passed in the Lok Sabha.
Following passage of the VB-G RAM G Bill in both Houses, Opposition members protested the government's push to expedite the legislation.
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.