'Assault on right to work': Activists demand rollback of G RAM G Bill, warn of protests

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) Activists on Tuesday demanded that the VB-G RAM G Bill that seeks to replace MGNREGA with a new law on rural employment should be taken back, calling it an assault on the hard-earned right to work for the rural poor.

At a press conference organised by the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha here, activists said the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 not just repeals the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) but also changes the nature of the rural employment scheme by making it centralised.

The activists said the increase in the number of work days under the new Bill is an "eyewash" and stressed that while the scheme has become centralised, the burden of expenditure on the states has increased.

The VB-G RAM G Bill, which seeks to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. It provides for 125 days of work and talks about establishing a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Economist Prabhat Patnaik said the MGNREGA is a unique legislation, which was adopted by building consensus among stakeholders and passed unanimously by Parliament. He said the same has not been done for the VB-G RAM G Bill.

"The MGNREGA is a unique legislation... There were many schemes for employment earlier as well but it was for the first time that employment was given as a right," he said.

It was adopted by building a consensus by all parties, Patnaik said, adding that it had the support of all mass organisations. It is substantively a constitutional provision, he said.

"These are issues that can't be undone by majority vote. If you can't create another consensus, then this legislation is not required. Unless that happens, you can't take away a rights-based legislation," he said.

"Don't be fooled by the promise of 125 days... it is not demand-based. The Centre would specify the work being undertaken," he said, adding that the legislation should be opposed tooth and nail.

CPI leader Annie Raja recounted the journey behind the enactment of the MGNREGA in 2005, when the Left parties were extending support to the then UPA government.

"Every section of the society has struggled for this Act. A lot of consultation was done -- states, workers' unions, women organisations, all were consulted," she said.

"The NREGA was bottom to top, (whereas) this new Bill brings a top-down approach. Now the Centre will tell where the programme will be run; they have the discretionary power," she said.

She also said while the MGNREGA had eight hours of work shift with a one-hour break, work can extend up to 12 hours according to the new Bill.

Economist Jayati Ghosh said the new Bill takes away the "right-based approach" and makes the scheme a "gift" from the government.

"We have seen the pattern of making everything a gift from the state. Right to Food is a right, but now we have ration bags coming with the prime minister's photo on it... or the Covid vaccine certificates which had the prime minister's photo. We are seeing a tendency to convert citizens' rights to a gift from the state," she said.

B Venkat of the All India Agricultural Workers Union mentioned the provision for facilitating adequate availability of agricultural labour during peak agricultural seasons. The Bill says the state shall notify a period covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting, during which works under this Act shall not be undertaken.

"The government is trying to create a conflict between farmers and agricultural workers. This provision has been brought in just to please those who control the land," Venkat said.

Economist Jean Dreze called the MGNREGS the only thing that truly makes India a "Vishwaguru".

"If there is something in India that makes it a Vishwaguru, it is the MGNREGA. There was a lot of struggle that was behind it, now it is being repealed," he said.

"The Centre would now have full power when and where to implement the scheme, while the obligation is on the states. It is like saying I give a work guarantee but don't guarantee that the guarantee will be in place," Dreze said.

Activist and politician Yogendra Yadav said while the MGNREGA provided a guarantee of work, the new Bill finishes it. He said protests against the Bill will start on December 19.

The activists called all workers, social organisations and unions to join the protest against the Bill.

The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha said the Bill represents a fundamental shift from a rights-based law that provides an enforceable entitlement to a budget-constrained scheme without any accountability of the Union government.

"The VB-G RAM G Bill is not a reform but a rollback of democratic and constitutional guarantees won by workers through decades of sustained struggles. By replacing the statutory right under MGNREGA with a centrally-controlled, budget-capped and surveillance-heavy scheme, the Union government is seeking to dismantle a historic rights-based legislation and reduce the right to work to a discretionary dole," the Morcha said.

"This Bill violates the spirit of the Constitution, undermines the 73rd Constitutional Amendment and strikes at the core of social and economic justice by shifting power away from workers, gram sabhas and states into the hands of the Union government," it said. PTI AO KSS KSS