On December 16, the Centre introduced the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), VB—G RAM G Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha to repeal and replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA).
The landmark MGNREGA was passed by Parliament on September 5, 2005. It converted employment into a statutory, enforceable right. Under Section 3 of MGNREGA, any rural Indian household could demand work from the government. Under Section 7, failure by the Indian state to provide employment guaranteed a statutory obligation to pay unemployment allowance to the household asking for work.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, MGNREGA generated over 389 crore person-days in 2020-21, the highest since its inception. In short, it acted as India’s largest shock absorber when markets collapsed.
VB–G RAM G, on the other hand, replaces MGNREGA’s rights-based framework with a behavioural tone decided by the state. It thus centralises control, incentivises rationing, and undermines the constitutional spirit of a worker's right to demand work, according to critics.