Opposition protests MGNREGA name change in Parliament, calls it an ‘insult’ to Mahatma Gandhi

Several Opposition MPs staged a protest in the Parliament House complex on Tuesday, 16 December, against the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, accusing the BJP-led NDA government of “insulting” Mahatma Gandhi and attempting to dismantle the rural employment guarantee framework.

The protest came soon after the government introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, DMK MP T.R. Baalu, Revolutionary Socialist Party MP N.K. Premchandran, among others, gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Parliament House complex, raising slogans such as “Gandhi ji ka ye apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan” (India will not tolerate this insult to Mahatma Gandhi).

Carrying posters of Mahatma Gandhi, Opposition MPs assembled near the Makar Dwar steps and marched to Prerna Sthal, accusing the government of targeting a landmark welfare law implemented during the UPA regime.

Addressing reporters, Priyanka Gandhi alleged that the Bill was a direct attempt to finish off MGNREGA, which provides a legal guarantee of employment to rural households.

“This scheme is named after Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation. The BJP government is obsessed with changing names and, in the process, stripping millions of labourers of their right to guaranteed employment,” she said.

She argued that while the Bill speaks of increasing the number of workdays, it fails to address core concerns.

“They say 125 days, but has the wage rate been increased? The burden is being shifted to states, and poorer states will simply not be able to bear the cost. That is how the scheme will collapse,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

She also flagged what she described as an erosion of decentralisation.

“Earlier, gram panchayats decided what work would be undertaken under the scheme. This Bill centralises that power. The right of village assemblies and panchayats to decide priorities is being snatched away,” she alleged, calling for the legislation to be withdrawn.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of erasing Gandhi’s legacy. “Mahatma Gandhi awakened the soul of this country and led the freedom struggle. Today, the BJP has nothing new to offer, so it is changing names,” he said.

Inside Parliament, Opposition members also entered the Well of the House holding Gandhi’s photographs and demanded that the Bill be sent to a parliamentary standing committee for detailed scrutiny.

The VB-G RAM G Bill was introduced by Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who rejected the Opposition’s allegations. He said the Narendra Modi government not only believes in Mahatma Gandhi but follows his ideals in practice.

“This government has done more for rural development than previous governments,” Chouhan told the House.

According to the text of the Bill, it seeks to 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. States will be required to frame their own schemes in line with the new law within six months of its commencement.

In a statement, the Ministry of Rural Development said the proposed legislation aims to establish a modern statutory framework aligned with the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’.

It said the Bill focuses on generating employment alongside creating durable rural assets through four priority areas — water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-linked infrastructure, and works to mitigate extreme weather events.

The Bill has emerged as a fresh flashpoint in Parliament, with the Opposition insisting that beyond renaming, it fundamentally alters the rights-based nature of MGNREGA and weakens protections for rural workers.

With PTI inputs