Parliament: VB-G RAM G Bill, To Replace MGNREGA, Passed by Lok Sabha

After a fiery debate that stretched over eight hours, Lok Sabha has passed the Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill (VB-G-RAM-G Bill), on Thursday, introduced to replace MGNREGA. This came after Minister of Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s responded to questions on the bill amid loud protests from the Opposition members.

During his speech, Chouhan directed strong barbs at Congress by mentioning that Mahatma Gandhi's name was added to NREGA with an eye on 2009 elections.

Also in response to Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's remark on BJP's obsession with naming schemes after PM Narendra Modi, Shivraj Chouhan lists out names of schemes named after ex-PM Jawaharlal Nehru, and mentioned how Congress killed the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi when it did not dissolve Congress after independence to cling on to power and the accepted partition of India.

The Opposition has been strongly opposing the Bill, accusing the government of insulting Mahatma Gandhi and diluting the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005.

Earlier, Congress MP KC Venugopal requested to refer the VB-G Ram G to a Standing Committee or a Joint Parliamentary Committee which was rejected by the Speaker.

"Today Parliament is witnessing murder of democracy. By removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi from NREGA they are trying to kill the democratic values as well as the ideology of the Father of the Nation," Venugopal had told reporters.

According to the bill, it will provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.

The House has been adjourned till 11 am tomorrow, which is the last day of the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.

With PTI inputs.