Crime Lok Sabha passes VB GRAM G Bill to replace MGNREGA amid opposition protest - The central government has been weaponising MGNREGA

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Congress Party president Mallikarjun Kharge, with Congress MP KC Venugopal, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, DMK MP TR Balu, and other India Bloc MPs, holds a protest over the renaming of MGNREGA during the ongoing Winter Session, in New Delhi on Thursday
Lok Sabha in the winter session has passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, or the VB GRAM G Bill, on Thursday, to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or MGNREGA, passed in 2005.

Key feature of the VB GRAM G Bill​

  1. Nature of the Guarantee: The nature of the Guarantee changes from universality to discretionary provisions. MGNREGA had a universal and statutory right to work for any household in any area; it changed to areas “notified by the central government”
  2. Basis of Work: The basis of work changes from demand-driven to supply-driven. There were provisions of unemployment allowances for failure to provide employment. Here, the central government allocates funds to determine the possibility of work.
  3. Financial Burden: MGNREGA was a heavily central-funded programme, ranging from 70-30 allocation to 90-10 in specific areas such as the Northeast India and the Union Territories, but now the scheme is on a 60-40 split between the centre and the state.
  4. Planning process: The planning process changes from bottom-up democratic participation to an autocratic top-down model. Earlier, the planning was done by the Local Gram Sabha for local needs, but now the planning is guided by a centralised “Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack”.
  5. Availability of work: The VB GRAM G increases the guaranteed employment from 100 days to 125 days. There was a mandatory availability of the bill, where workers can get work any time they want, but now there is a blackout period of 60 days during peak sowing and harvesting seasons, to ensure the availability of farm labour.

Criticism of VB GRAM G Bill​

The bill faced staunch protest from the opposition, and many critics called it “the dismantling of a right in the name of a reform". Eventhough, a section of the opposition is sternly opposing the naming of the bill, calling it an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, another segment has a more nuanced response. Belgian-born Indian development economist Jean Dreze said that the new bill completely undermines the concept of guarantee. The scheme intends to guarantee work, but it doesn't guarantee that the guarantee will come into effect. He called it a “joke”. The central government has been weaponising MGNREGA to attack the federal structure of the country. West Bengal has not been allocated MGNREGA funds since March 2022, citing non-compliance with Central directives. This is an example of how the discretionary power of the central government will be used in VB GRAM G by using technologies that are not ready for use. The government has changed the process of audit from social to a technocratic, top-down audit, further alienating the manual workers.
 
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