MGNREGA Recast: States Get Burden, Centre Keeps Control
The government has pushed through a major overhaul of India’s rural jobs programme- one that, critics say, dismantles its very guarantee.
Introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 15 and passed by a brief voice vote three days later, the VB-G RAM G (Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)) replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The voice vote, which lasted under two minutes amid protests, left little room for dissent or formal division. Several MPs objected, arguing the process sidestepped due deliberation.
During the discussion, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the decision to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name, calling it a symbolic erasure of the Act’s moral core, while Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged that the Bill be examined by a Standing Committee, a suggestion that was rejected.
Economist Jean Dreze, speaking to Goseeko.com, said the Bill “repeals the guarantee” while keeping the appearance of reform. According to him, shifting financial responsibility to states through a proposed 60:40 funding pattern could make the scheme “unworkable,” as most states rely on central funds to sustain projects.
“The Central government retains the power to decide where and when the scheme comes into force. That defeats the purpose of work guarantee. It’s like saying I give you work guarantee but I don’t guarantee that the guarantee will come into force,” he explained. “That undermines the whole thing.”
The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), representing worker organisations, has called the legislation a rollback of statutory labour rights. The group argues that it undermines Gram Panchayats’ autonomy and places nearly all obligations on states while centralising control with the Union government. “You cannot undo such a provision through a mere majority in the Lok Sabha,” said Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus JNU during a press conference that detailed the clauses of the new act.
The NSM has announced nationwide protests on December 19 demanding the Bill’s withdrawal.
While the new legislation raises the number of guaranteed workdays from 100 to 125 and increases penalties for official negligence, experts say these are marginal gains. Only about 2% of rural households currently reach even 100 days of employment, limiting the practical effect of the expanded ceiling.
What appears on paper as reform could, in practice, mark a retreat from the principle that made the rural jobs programme historic—a legal guarantee of work backed by central funding and local accountability.