President’s assent turns VB-G RAM G Bill into law, replaces 20-year-old MGNREGA

New Delhi, Dec 21: With President Droupadi Murmu giving her assent on Sunday, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill (VB-G RAM G) has formally become law.

The Bill, cleared by Parliament earlier this week, seeks to replace the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a flagship welfare programme that has been in force for nearly two decades.

Defending the legislation, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the new law would ensure “comprehensive development of villages” and provide “abundant employment to every poor person”, while upholding dignity and offering added safeguards to the differently-abled, elderly, women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

According to the government, the Act aims to strengthen income security for rural households, modernise governance and accountability mechanisms and link wage employment with the creation of durable and productive rural assets.

However, the legislation has drawn sustained criticism from the Opposition, which has accused the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of attempting to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy by dismantling a programme bearing his name.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram mounted a sharp attack on the Centre, calling the move the “second killing” of the Father of the Nation.

“Bill’s defects apart, the Bill is a deliberate attempt to erase Mahatma Gandhi from the nation’s memory — which is reprehensible,” Chidambaram wrote in an opinion column published on Sunday.

He alleged that the ruling BJP views India’s history as beginning only in 2014 and warned that such actions would not be forgiven by the people.

In a video post on social media, Minister Chouhan said that over Rs 1,51,282 crore will be allocated for the VB-G RAM G scheme to ensure adequate funds for rural employment.

"There is a conspiracy to misguide the country, and false information is being spread, while the truth is that the VB-G RAM G scheme is a step ahead of MGNREGA," he said.

Here are the key differences between the two rural employment frameworks:

• While the MGNREGA provides for 100 days of wage employment, the VB-G RAM G Bill promises 125 days of wage employment.

• The MGNREGS is demand-driven, requiring the Centre to allocate additional funds if there is demand for work. In contrast, the VB-G RAM G Bill provides for a normative allocation to states, with any expenditure beyond this ceiling to be borne by the state governments.

• Under MGNREGS, 100% of wages are paid by the Centre, while material costs are shared in a 75:25 ratio between the Centre and the states. Under VB-G RAM G, state governments will shoulder a larger share of the overall expenditure.

Under the new framework, financial liability will be shared between the Centre and the states in a 90:10 ratio for northeastern and Himalayan states, and 60:40 for all other states and Union territories with legislatures.

For Union territories without legislatures, the entire cost will be borne by the Centre.

With inputs from PTI