Lok Sabha clears VB-G RAM G after midnight uproar, opposition walk-out

India’s flagship rural employment guarantee is facing its most significant overhaul since inception. The government wants to replace MGNREGA with VB-G RAM G, promising more workdays, greater efficiency and tighter controls. At the same time, critics warn of diluted rights, higher burdens on states and the erasure of Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy. In this episode of The Squirrels, Bhupendra Chaubey examines the economics, politics and ideology behind the proposed shift, including Narendra Modi’s own past remarks on why MGNREGA was never scrapped during his first term, in the video above. Is this genuine reform for a Viksit Bharat, or a fundamental retreat from the idea of a legal right to work?

The Lok Sabha passed the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill in a tumultuous sitting that stretched late into the night, with opposition parties staging loud protests, tearing papers and demanding greater scrutiny of legislation they say dismantles a landmark welfare guarantee.

The bill, widely referred to as VB-G RAM G or G RAM G, seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, recasting rural employment support within the BJP-led NDA government’s broader Viksit Bharat 2047 framework. It was introduced on December 15, taken up for discussion on December 17 and finally cleared by voice vote in the early hours of December 18 after nearly eight hours of debate.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defended the legislation as a long-overdue reform, alleging that MGNREGA had turned into a “tool of corruption” and insisting the new framework was prepared after consultations. He accused the Indian National Congress of being obsessed with naming schemes after the Nehru family and argued that the present government prioritised delivery over symbolism.

The opposition, however, said the manner of passage and the substance of the bill together marked a severe dilution of a rights-based law that has functioned as a safety net for rural households for two decades.

What changes under the new rural employment law

At the centre of the bill is a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment per financial year for rural households, an increase from the 100 days mandated under MGNREGA. The government has projected this as an expansion of support, coupled with tighter monitoring and a greater focus on asset creation.

Critics argue the increase is illusory. They point to provisions that alter the funding structure, shifting a larger financial burden onto states, and to clauses that centralise planning and oversight with the Union government. Opposition members contend this weakens the role of gram panchayats and undermines the core principle of guaranteed work on demand.

Concerns were also raised about the bill’s passage through a voice vote amid disorder. Parliamentary observers noted that the brief vote, conducted while the House was in uproar, limited the scope for recording dissent or amendments, fuelling allegations of opacity in law-making.

Opposition fury, protests inside and outside Parliament

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, along with MPs from the DMK, Samajwadi Party and other opposition groups, led protests in the Well of the House, tearing copies of the bill and demanding it be referred to a standing committee. They described the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme as an insult to the Father of the Nation and labelled the legislation anti-poor.

“Anyone who reads the bill will understand how the rural employment guarantee scheme is about to finish. This bill puts a funding burden on states, and state governments don’t have money. This scheme is a support for the poorest of the poor,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said after the debate.

Government ministers and allies condemned the scenes in the House. Union minister SP Singh Baghel called the paper-tearing undemocratic, while Chirag Paswan defended the inclusion of ‘Ram’ in the scheme’s name, invoking Gandhi’s last words, “Hey Ram”.

Outside Parliament, the backlash widened. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her state would continue its rural employment scheme under Gandhi’s name. Labour groups, including the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, alleged the bill was drafted without genuine consultation and called for nationwide protests. The chairperson of the Standing Committee on Rural Development also wrote to the Speaker expressing concern that such far-reaching changes had bypassed committee scrutiny.

With the Lok Sabha’s approval secured, the bill now moves to the Rajya Sabha, where another round of debate is expected in what remains a deeply polarised political atmosphere.