MNREGA to VB-G RAM G: The Inside Story

The change from MNREGA to VB-G RAM G shows the BJP agenda to quite some extent, away from Gandhi’s ideology, undermines federalism, the concept of Rights and doesn't care for the marginalized!

Around the time of Rath Yatra when BJP began to rise, it projected itself as ‘party with a difference’. As the electoral power of this party started growing up, many thinkers and writers were not much worried as they saw in BJP, another side of the then ruling Congress. Its colours started coming up when even the dominant partner in the NDA with Vajpayee as the leader. It came to power twice for short periods lasting for 13 days and 13 months before it ruled for nearly 6 years with Vajpayee as the Prime minister. Many of those writers did see the ‘difference’ of this party as stifling of democratic norms were very much in the air even during that time.

The period of UPA 1 in particular was marked by a series of schemes based on the concept of ‘rights’. Right to information, health, food, education and what have you. Probably this was the peak point of Indian democracy as average and poor citizens’ rights came to the forefront. The social movements put adequate pressure to ensure that the Government comes forward not only to fulfil its constitutional duties and start the schemes based on the concept of rights but also to ensure that the empowerment of the deprived sections is upheld.

With the third term of the Narendra Modi Government, the core agenda of communal politics is becoming more apparent. Nationalism was constructed around Hindu identity, concentration of power with the central government, undermining the very concept of federal state and that ‘India is a Union of states’. Side tracking the schemes structured around Rights and bringing forth the schemes that come more as policies of the authoritarian state, where the state is dishing out schemes to the people. Schemes are coming up where decentralization is being done away with.

There is a perception that BJP-RSS are just against Muslims. The truth is that it is against the marginalized and labouring section of masses, Dalits, workers, Adivasis and women in particular. We have witnessed the ‘farm laws’ which the peasants opposed were stubbornly introduced. For the withdrawal of these peasants had to sacrifice nearly 600 lives before they could be repealed. We recently saw the labour codes which take away the hard-earned rights of labouring masses. And now we are seeing a similar process against farm workers as MNREGA is being scrapped and VB G-RAM-G is being brought in.

The Central Government is scrapping Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MNREGA) and bringing in Viksit Bharat – Guarantee For Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM G). A good mix of English and Hindi/Urdu words to make an acronym RAM, the Hindu Lord who has been an important identity issue around which BJP has developed its divisive politics.

Major Changes

The major factors the new bill aims are, first to increase the number of days from 100 to 125 days. It may sound an improvement on the existing 100 days in MNREGA. As such MNREGA is based on the demand of the unemployed citizen. As per MNREGA Sangharsh Morcha, “MGNREGA establishes a statutory right to work that is demand-driven and universal i.e. any person willing to do unskilled manual work in any rural area must be provided work. But under the VB-G RAM G Bill, Section 5(1) states “the State Government shall, in such rural areas in the State as notified by the Central Government, provide to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work, not less than 125 days of guaranteed employment.”

The cat is out of the bag. The Central Government will be notifying authority in which areas it will apply. It reduces the universal nature of the scheme to the areas notified by the Central Government. Section 4(5) of the VB-G RAM-G Bill states “The Central Government shall determine the State-wise normative allocation for each financial year, based on objective parameters as may be prescribed by the Central Government,” while Section 4(6) further provides that “Any expenditure incurred by a State in excess of its normative allocation shall be borne by the State Government in such manner and by such procedure as may be prescribed by the Central Government.”

The main objective of MNREGA is put upside down as MGNREGA funding is based on demand to a supply-driven system. In G-RAM-G demand has to conform to a predetermined budget.

In MNREGA, 90% of funds were to come from Central Government, while G-RAM-G, in most states Centre will give only 60% of funds, and the remaining 40% has to come from the state Governments, which are already starved of funds. The states in turn due to paucity of funds may not register the demands for employment by many.

Gram Sabhas were doing the planning at local level, in contrast now G-RAM-G this provision is overturned by Schedule 1, clause 6(4) of the VB-G RAM G Bill which states that “Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack shall guide States, Districts and Panchayati Raj Institutions in identifying priority infrastructure gaps, standardising work designs, and ensuring that public investments contribute measurably to saturation outcomes at the Gram Panchayat, Block and District levels.” This is a severe undermining of the Panchayati Raj concept, developed and implemented with changes towards democratization so far.

“Section 6(2) of VB-G RAM G bill states “The State Governments shall notify in advance, a period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting, during which works under this Act, shall not be undertaken.”. This is in total contrast to what was there in MNREGA.

The deletion of Gandhi’s name is also a point in the new scheme where name RAM has been introduced through linguistic acrobatics. It is Hindu nationalist ideology, which spread hatred in the society due to which we had to lose the father of our Nation. (as per Sardar Patel). Gandhi is such a global figure now that he cannot be sidelined. So, he has been made the ambassador of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan alone. While in this employment scheme he has been deleted, this is a political signal from BJP that it is not Gandhi whose ideology they pursue.

So this change shows the BJP agenda to quite some extent, away from Gandhi’s ideology, undermines federalism, the concept of Rights and doesn't care for the marginalized!

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