Attacking MGNREGA akin to attacking crores of workers, their right to work: Kharge

New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said attacking MGNREGA is like attacking crores of workers and their constitutional right to work, which the party would resist peacefully and firmly from panchayats to Parliament.

In a post on X, Kharge said the VB GRAM G Act, which replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), is designed to dismantle the right to work, which the Congress opposes strongly.

“The Indian National Congress makes three demands, clearly and unequivocally – withdraw the VB GRAM G Act, restore MGNREGA as a rights-based law, and restore the right to work and panchayats’ authority.

“That is why we are launching the nationwide ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ (from January 10 to February 25).” “MGNREGA is not a charity. It is a legal guarantee. Crores of the poorest people got work in their own villages; MGNREGA reduced hunger and distress migration, raised rural wages, and strengthened women’s economic dignity. VB GRAM G is designed to dismantle this right,” Kharge said.

The Congress opposes the new Act because work will no longer be a guaranteed right under it, the Congress chief said.

“Budgets will be capped, so work ends when money ends, even during a crisis, and Delhi will decide funds and works, pushing the gram sabhas and panchayats into irrelevance,” he claimed.

The 60-day work blackout will legalise denial of work during peak distress, and wages will become uncertain and suppressible instead of being a protected entitlement, he added.

“The states will be forced to fund 40 per cent (of the scheme), which will weaken federalism and harm the poor states. Technology will exclude workers through biometrics and app-based barriers. Village assets will be replaced by contractor-style projects.

“Attacking MGNREGA is like attacking crores of workers and their constitutional rights. We will RESIST, peacefully and firmly, from every panchayat to Parliament,” Kharge said in his post.

The Congress on Saturday announced a nationwide 'MGNREGA Bachao Sangram' from January 10 to February 25 to demand the withdrawal of the VB G-RAM-G Act, restoration of MGNREGA as a rights-based law, the right to work, and the authority of panchayats.

The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Bill, or VB-G RAM G, was passed with a voice vote amid protests in the Rajya Sabha on December 18, 2025, hours after the Lok Sabha cleared it.

On December 21, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill, making it an Act, which replaces the rural employment law, MGNREGA, guaranteeing 125 days of wage employment per rural household every financial year. PTI SKC ARI