G RAM-G replaces MGNREGA amidst Opposition outrage

Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the VB G RAM-G bill replacing the two-decade-old MGNREGA scheme amid acrimonious scenes between Centre and Opposition, which accused the Government of destroying the rural economy and ignoring the principles of Mahatma Gandhi.

While the lower house saw some members from the Opposition benches tearing the bill papers, which led to the adjournment for the day, it was taken up in the Rajya Sabha and was being debated till this news report’s last filing. Sources from both the ruling and Opposition confirmed that the Bill will likely sail through the Parliament late at night as the Winter Session ends on Friday.

Opposition MPs, including Jairam Ramesh and Digvijaya Singh, opposed the introduction of the VB-G RAM G Bill in the Rajya Sabha when Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan sought to table the legislation. Opposition demanded that they be given at least one day to first read and understand the Bill, before it is introduced for debate in the Upper House.

Congress member KC Venugopal had urged the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla to refer the G RAM G Bill to a parliamentary panel for examination, which was turned down during the prolonged sitting of the House beyond midnight on Wednesday.  

Several opposition members took out a protest march inside the Parliament House complex against the G RAM G bill.Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defended the new Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission-Gramin (G RAM G) Bill as he alleged massive corruption in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) brought by Congress-led UPA-I.

As opposition members raised slogans and tore the circulated bill papers in Lok Sabha, Chouhan argued that MGNREGA has outlived its utility and the focus of the Government was now on creating permanent assets and developing model villages, instead of just paying wages.

Opposition members accused the Government of trying to erase the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi by scrapping his name from the rural jobs scheme. Chouhan said the G RAM G Bill was brought after extensive deliberations as it was felt that an amount to the tune of INR10-11 lakh crore should be spent on initiatives such as water conservation, developing core rural and livelihood-related infrastructure and taking up special works to mitigate extreme weather events.

Before moving the Bill in the Upper House, Chouhan addressed a Press conference and slammed the Congress-led opposition for resorting to “hooliganism” in the Lok Sabha by tearing papers and standing on the desks in the House. “Through their behaviour, the opposition disgraced democracy, tore parliamentary traditions to shreds and turned democracy into ‘bheedtantra’ (mobocracy) and ‘goondatantra’ (hooliganism),” Chouhan stated.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that there will be a nationwide movement against this “systematic murder of the world’s largest employment scheme.

According to the bill, it will provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work. Within six months from the date of commencement of the VB-G RAM G Act, states will have to make a scheme consistent with the provisions of the new law.