The Centre’s proposal to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) is ‘immoral and unnecessary,’ said senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoorin the Lok Sabha today. The Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–G RAM G) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid strong objections from the opposition over the “removal” of Gandhi’s name from it.
The MP from Kerala’sThiruvananthapuramasserted that the bill is not merely an administrative tweak but an “assault on the very spirit and philosophical foundation of this crucial programme”.
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Taking a sharp dig at the BJP-led Centre while opposing the VB-G RAM G Bill in the Lok Sabha, he recalled the 1971 hit Bollywood number — “Dekho o deewano (tum) ye kaam na karo, Ram ka naam badnaam na karo” (don’t tarnish the name of Ram)
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He added that the proposed legislation strikes at the heart of MNREGA’s philosophy, while acknowledging that “The (Narendra) Modi government has done more for rural development than previous governments,” he made it clear that this could not justify dismantling the moral foundation of the scheme.
“My first objection, as with others, is the ill-advised decision to remove the name of the Father of the Nation, for the reasons already stated, which I will not repeat. But this is not merely an administrative tweak, it is an assault on the very spirit and philosophical foundation of this crucial programme,” he told the House.
Opposition MPs, including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, opposed the bill at the introduction stage and demanded that it be sent to a parliamentary panel for closer scrutiny. Several members objected strongly to what they described as the deliberate “removal” of Mahatma Gandhi’s name.
Gandhi, Ram Rajya and Gram Swaraj’
Explaining why the name mattered, Tharoor said Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of Ram Rajya was never political or religious in a narrow sense. It was, he argued, deeply tied to social justice and village empowerment.
Asserting that Gandhi’s vision of Ram Rajya was rooted in Gram Swaraj, Tharoor said the original law honoured this link. “The original Act, by bearing his name, acknowledged this profound connection — that true employment guarantee and upliftment must flow from the grassroots, embodying his principle of the last person first,” he said. “To remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi is to strip the bill of its moral compass and historical legitimacy,” he added.
‘Do not sully Ram’s name’
In a post on X earlier, Tharoor had made a similar point, urging the government not to turn a welfare programme into an ideological or religious exercise. He warned that such symbolism could end up “sully[ing] Ram’s name” instead of honouring any tradition.
Beyond the name change, Tharoor said the financial restructuring proposed in the bill should ring alarm bells. He objected strongly to the plan to shift 40 per cent of the financial burden to state governments.
“The proposal to impose 40 per cent of the financial burden directly on state governments is not merely fiscally irresponsible, it is a measure that threatens to make the entire programme unviable,” he said.
He warned that poorer states would struggle to implement the scheme, leading to delayed wage payments, fewer workdays and, eventually, the collapse of the programme itself. Tharoor also called it a violation of fiscal federalism, Tharoor said the Centre may not even have the legislative competence to push through such a change.
Opposition steps up pressure
The proposed renaming has triggered strong political pushback. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has demanded that the bill be withdrawn and referred to a standing committee, questioning why a successful scheme needed repeated renaming and pointing to the financial costs involved.
During the debate, after a personal remark from a treasury bench MP, Priyanka Gandhi responded emotionally, saying, “Mahatma Gandhi is not from my family, but he is like my family… the entire country feels the same way!”
What is MNREGA?
MNREGA was passed in 2005 under the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government which is regarded as one of India’s most important welfare laws. It guarantees 100 days of unskilled manual work each year to rural households and has been a key source of income security for the rural poor.
For 2025–26, the Centre has allocated Rs 86,000 crore to the scheme, the highest allocation since its launch nearly two decades ago.
The proposed VB–G RAM G Bill, 2025 seeks to repeal MNREGA and align rural employment programmes with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ vision. It raises the guaranteed workdays from 100 to 125 but also allows work to be paused during peak agricultural seasons to ensure labour availability for farming. |
