2 decades of progress reversed bypassing parliamentary conventions: Cong on MGNREGA repeal

New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday accused the Modi government of "desecrating the groundbreaking law" MGNREGA in Parliament and said that two decades of progress have been overturned "without consultation" and by sidestepping all parliamentary conventions and procedure.

The opposition party also said this "serious assault" on the right to work will be discussed at the Congress Working Committee meeting on December 27, where the party will decide the future course of action.

Parliament on Thursday passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill that seeks to replace the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a review document of the rural employment scheme released by the UPA government in 2012 on X to underline its achievements.

In a post on X, he said on July 14, 2012, the then prime minister, Manmohan Singh, released the MGNREGA Sameeksha brought out by the Ministry of Rural Development.

This was an anthology of 145 field studies conducted on MGNREGA between 2008 and 2012, including one by the CAG, Ramesh said.

It makes for required reading now, amid the "desecration of this groundbreaking law in Parliament over the last week", the Congress leader said.

"Two decades of progress have been overturned without consultation and by sidestepping all Parliamentary convention and procedure," Ramesh said.

He also shared a screenshot of the introduction of the MGNREGA Sameeksha document, which was released when he was in-charge of the rural development ministry.

Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal alleged that the Modi government has effectively "dismantled" MGNREGA - by converting it from a right to a favour.

"MGNREGA was a legal right to work, not a welfare handout. By capping funds, centralising control, and altering its demand-driven nature, the BJP has turned this right into a budget-dependent scheme, pushing crores of rural families into insecurity and distress," he said on X.

The Congress party is holding nationwide protests on Sunday in all district headquarters across the country, standing with workers whose livelihoods and dignity are under attack, he said.

"This serious assault on the right to work will be also discussed at the Congress Working Committee meeting on 27 December, where the party will deliberate and decide the future course of action," Venugopal said.

"Subsequently, on 28 December - our Foundation Day - Congress workers will hold programs in Mandals and Panchayats across India, carrying the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, reaffirming our commitment to his ideals and to the constitutional promise of justice, dignity, and the right to work," he further said.

On Saturday, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi accused the Modi government of bulldozing the MGNREGA, and asserted that the "black law" that seeks to repeal it will be defied by the lakhs of party workers across the country.

In a video message, she had said that by weakening MGNREGA, the Modi government had attacked the interests of crores of farmers, labourers, and landless across the country.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday gave her assent to the VB-G RAM G Bill, three days after Parliament passed it.

With the presidential assent, it now becomes the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025. The new law guarantees 125 days of rural wage employment every year.

The Opposition strongly protested the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the MGNREGA, and alleged that the government was putting the financial burden on states. PTI ASK KVK KVK