Parliament cleared a bill repealing MGNREGA and replacing it with a new rural jobs law.
The legislation was passed by both houses on the same day amid opposition protests.
Activist groups allege police denied permission and threatened legal action against protesters.
A brief protest took place at Jantar Mantar before police asked demonstrators to disperse.
Protests against the repeal were held in several states outside the capital.
The bill repealing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and replacing it with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, was passed by the Parliament on December 18.
The legislation was approved amid ruckus and protests in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day and was subsequently tabled and passed by the Rajya Sabha close to midnight. Opposition parties had been protesting against the bill for the past two days, arguing that its provisions undermine the core objectives of MGNREGA, which guarantees rural employment on demand.
The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of organisations working with MGNREGA workers, alleged that police prevented it from holding protests in Delhi after the bill was passed. In a press statement issued on December 19, the group said it had sought permission to demonstrate, including at Jantar Mantar — a designated protest site in central Delhi — but was denied approval.
“The police insisted on a 10-day notice for permission to protest at Jantar Mantar. Some organisers of the protest were threatened with legal action if the protest went ahead,” the statement said. It added that members of the platform had previously been invited by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development as expert voices.
In the absence of permission, the mass protest was called off. However, a delegation from the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha gathered at Jantar Mantar around midday with banners and placards.
Five Members of Parliament, Sasikanth Senthil of the Indian National Congress, S Murasoli and Thanga Tamil Selvan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Raja Ram Singh of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (CPI (ML)), and Bikash Bhattacharya of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) — visited the site and expressed solidarity with the protesters.
All India Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), announcing that her party had begun a 12-hour dharna in Parliament to protest against what she described as the central government’s move to dismantle MGNREGA.
According to the NSM, protesters staged a brief “flash demonstration” to highlight both their opposition to the repeal of MGNREGA and their right to protest. The group said they held their ground for a short period before being asked to disperse by the police.
Despite the denial of permission to protest in the capital, demonstrations demanding withdrawal of the law were held in several other states.
“A government that imposed demonetisation with four hours’ notice on November 8, 2016, a national lockdown with a few hours’ notice on March 24, 2020, and rushed parliamentary debate on a bill repealing MGNREGA with a few hours’ notice on December 17, 2025, now has the audacity to ask for 10 days’ notice before allowing a small peaceful protest at a pre-designated spot,” the statement said.
The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha condemned what it described as high-handedness by the authorities and said it would continue to oppose the repeal of MGNREGA “at every opportunity”.