Rural employment bill: TN CM writes to PM, wants MGNREGA to stay

Chennai, Dec 18 (PTI) Tamil Nadu government on Thursday expressed its "strong objection" to the Centre's new rural employment scheme, saying concerns included removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from it and the increased financial burden on states.

Chief Minister M K Stalin told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the proposed legislation, Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 "will jeopardise the livelihoods of crores of rural poor, particularly in performing states like Tamil Nadu, and strain inter-governmental relations." In a letter to the PM, Stalin expressed "deep concern and strong objection of the Government of Tamil Nadu," to the new bill, which seeks to repeal and replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA).

MGNREGA has been a cornerstone of rural livelihood security in India, providing a rights-based, demand-driven guarantee of employment to millions of rural households.

"In Tamil Nadu, the scheme has been implemented effectively since 2006, generating on average, 30 crore person-days of employment annually and disbursing wages of approximately Rs 12,000 crore per year. From 2021-22 to 2024-25, we provided an average of 30 crore person-days, and in 2023-24 alone, 40.87 crore person-days were generated, with wages amounting to Rs 13,400 crore paid to workers," he said.

This has been crucial for the rural poor, especially economically weaker sections, including SC/ST communities, in a state with longer non-rainy periods, lack of perennial rivers for irrigation, and high dependency on such wage employment.

While the proposed Bill increases the guaranteed employment to 125 days per year-- a welcome step that could benefit rural workers -– the other provisions fundamentally undermine the scheme's core principles, impose severe financial burdens on states, and erode federalism, he contended.

There was a shift from demand-driven to supply-driven allocation, with the Bill empowering the Centre to fix state-wise normative allocations based on parameters prescribed centrally.

"This caps expenditure and requires states to bear any excess costs, departing from MGNREGA's demand-driven nature," he added.

On the financial front, the new 60:40 funding pattern "will impose a tremendous additional burden on states, many of which are already facing fiscal constraints." Pause during peak agricultural seasons and "excessive centralisation" were other issues flagged by the TN CM.

Further, "renaming the scheme erases the link to Gandhiji's vision of Gram Swaraj and decentralisation, which MGNREGA embodied. These changes alter the fundamental rights-based character of MGNREGA, making it a centrally controlled, budget-capped programme," Stalin said.

He urged the Centre not to implement the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025. "Instead, retain and strengthen MGNREGA by incorporating the increase to 125 days (and other positive features like avoiding clashes with agricultural seasons) through amendments, after wide consultations with states." "Tamil Nadu stands ready to engage constructively to ensure rural employment guarantee remains a robust, demand-driven safety net for the nation's rural poor," he told the PM in the letter. PTI SA KH