Lok Sabha passes VB GRAM G Bill to replace MGNREGA amid opposition protest- Find key features inside
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Lok Sabha passes VB GRAM G Bill to replace MGNREGA amid opposition protest- Find key features inside")
Congress Party president Mallikarjun Kharge, with Congress MP KC Venugopal, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, DMK MP TR Balu, and other India Bloc MPs, holds a protest over the renaming of MGNREGA during the ongoing Winter Session, in New Delhi on Thursday Photograph: (ANI)
Parliament passes the VB GRAM G Bill to replace MGNREGA, changing the right to work, funding structure and planning model amid sharp opposition criticism.
Lok Sabha in the winter session has passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, or the VB GRAM G Bill, on Thursday, to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or MGNREGA, passed in 2005.
Key feature of the VB GRAM G Bill
Criticism of VB GRAM G Bill
The bill faced staunch protest from the opposition, and many critics called it “the dismantling of a right in the name of a reform". Eventhough, a section of the opposition is sternly opposing the naming of the bill, calling it an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, another segment has a more nuanced response. Belgian-born Indian development economist Jean Dreze said that the new bill completely undermines the concept of guarantee. The scheme intends to guarantee work, but it doesn't guarantee that the guarantee will come into effect. He called it a “joke”. The central government has been weaponising MGNREGA to attack the federal structure of the country. West Bengal has not been allocated MGNREGA funds since March 2022, citing non-compliance with Central directives. This is an example of how the discretionary power of the central government will be used in VB GRAM G by using technologies that are not ready for use. The government has changed the process of audit from social to a technocratic, top-down audit, further alienating the manual workers.
