People’s organisations condemn Centre’s new rural employment Bill

Several people’s and agricultural rights organisations, under the nationwide umbrella of NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, condemned the introduction of Viksit Bharat – Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM G), to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MNREGA). They demanded immediate withdrawal of the Bill.

“The VB-G RAM G Bill is not a reform but a rollback of democratic and constitutional guarantees won by workers through decades of sustained struggles. The Union government is seeking to dismantle a historic rights-based legislation and reduce the right to work to a discretionary dole,” a statement issued by the Morcha said.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, representatives of the Dalit Bahujan Front (DBF), Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV), Telangana People’s Joint Action Committee (TPJAC), People’s Monitoring Committee and National Alliance for Justice, Accountability & Rights spoke against the Bill.

Ravi Kanneganti from TPJAC said the MNREGA had been a safety net for crores of people, and its repeal without public consultations will lead to mass unemployment. He urged the Telangana government to pass a resolution in the Legislative Assembly opposing the Bill.

P. Shankar from DBF demanded that the Bill be sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee, and remarked that the poor of the country will not benefit from the “name change from Gandhiji to Ramji”. He pointed out that the funding for the scheme is being wilfully scuttled for the past 10 years, and called the latest move as anti-constitutional. Puli Kalpana from DBF said the Bill would rob the female MNREGA workers of their independence.

Sree Harsha from RSV said the laws being repealed by the Centre were hard earned victories of people’s organisations over two decades.

Further, the Bill’s heavy reliance on mandatory biometric authentication and geo-spatial technology represent a fundamental shift in power form community led social audit to centrally managed surveillance and control, he said.

Akhil Surya from National Alliance for Justice, Accountability & Rights said the right to work is a constitutional directive and imperative under the Article 41 of the Constitution. The new law will roll this constitutional imperative backwards.

P.Prasad from Telangana Agricultural Workers Union said the union is giving a call to burn copies of the Bill at all district headquarters. He said it will enhance the financial burden on the State governments from 10% to 40% besides seriously undermining federal spirit. Pointing out that the Centre, through its digital restrictions, has deleted seven crore job cards over the past few years, he said Adivasis were the most affected due to this policy.