CPI said the VB-G RAM G Bill dismantles MGNREGA’s rights-based framework and turns guaranteed employment into a discretionary scheme.
Party chief D Raja termed the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name a “fascist ideological act”, accusing the BJP of contempt for Gandhian values.
CPI warned the Bill weakens workers’ right to demand jobs, increases exploitation, and announced nationwide protests on December 22.
The Communist Party of India accused the Union government on Tuesday of undermining a rights-based law and turning it into a discretionary plan in opposition to the new VB-G RAM G Bill, which is slated to replace the flagship rural employment program MGNREGA.
CPI General Secretary D Raja stated in an X post that the BJP and its ideological gurus are "disciples of Godse" because Mahatma Gandhi's name was removed from the Bill.
"The CPI strongly opposes the Union government's move to bring a new rural employment Bill to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)," Raja stated.
"The deliberate removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from this historic law is not a mere administrative change but a deeply fascist ideological act that exposes the BJP's contempt for the values and legacy of Gandhiji. This act confirms what the people of India already know, that the BJP and its ideological mentors are indeed true disciples of Godse," he said.
"By dismantling a rights-based law and converting it into a discretionary scheme, the government is undermining the very idea of guaranteed employment and reducing rural workers to the mercy of official quotas and contractor-driven mechanisms," the CPI leader said.
.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&format=webp&w=768&dpr=1.0)
He said the MGNREGA, enacted by the United Progressive Alliance government with Left support, is a major milestone in the history of the Indian Republic and a cornerstone of the constitutional concept of the Right to Work.
He said it flows directly from the Directive Principles of State Policy, which mandate the state to strive to provide means of livelihood to all citizens.
"The Act institutionalised a floor wage in rural India, and any dilution of its provisions will inevitably lead to increased exploitation of rural workers. At a time when artificial intelligence and automation are destroying jobs in urban areas and among the educated, the need of the hour is to expand the scope of MGNREGA to urban areas, not to destroy its vision and safeguards in rural India," he said.
Raja said while the government is claiming on paper that workdays will be increased to 125 per year, the proposed Bill removes the scheme's demand-driven nature, effectively stripping workers of their right to demand employment.
"This will leave labourers vulnerable to contractors, local authorities and landlords. MGNREGA has played a crucial role in sustaining rural demand and has rescued the Indian economy from recessionary pressures on several occasions, most notably during the COVID crisis," he said.
He urged party units to plan anti-new Bill demonstrations in every area on December 22.
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, also known as the VB-G RAM G Bill, in the Lok Sabha in the face of fierce opposition to the "removal" of Mahatma Gandhi's name.
In response to the opposition, Chouhan claimed that the government adheres to Mahatma Gandhi's values and believes in him. "The (Narendra) Modi government has done more for rural development than previous governments," he stated.
Members of the opposition pushed for the Bill to be sent to a parliamentary panel for closer examination. Additionally, they entered the Well of the House while carrying pictures of Mahatma Gandhi.
According to a copy of 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.
