New Delhi: The Lok Sabha witnessed a high-octane drama during the debate on the “G Ram G” Bill, introduced to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA), 2005. After the passage of the Bill 'Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), Opposition leaders tore copies of the Bill and reportedly threw the pieces towards Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The Opposition is targeting the Centre for replacing the old rural employment Bill named after Mahatma Gandhi. Responding to Congress's allegations, Chouhan said, "Congress killed the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi when it accepted the partition of India; rejected his call for disbanding the party."
"Several shortcomings existed in MGNREGA; states spent more on labour and less on procuring material," he added.
Hitting out at Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Union Agriculture Minister stated, "How much will they fool the country? Our sister Priyanka Gandhi was saying—just because they added the name 'Gandhi.' Even Gandhi’s legacy has been misused by Congress. She was asking under whose authority this name change is happening. It is not under the Modi government’s authority; the authority for naming lies with Congress."
The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB–G RAM G Bill, 2025 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Union Minister on Monday. Several Opposition MPs, Including Priyanbka Gandhi, also staged protest at Parliamnent's Makar Dwar against the Bill.
The Bill will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha for discussion. It will become law only after the President's nod.
As per the Centre, the new Bill aims at establishing a "rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047", by providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
