Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday strongly criticised the proposed G RAM G Bill, alleging that the Narendra Modi government is attempting to dismantle the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which he described as a lifeline for millions of rural Indians. In a post on X, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of harbouring “a deep hatred for the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and the rights of the poor.”
Rahul Gandhi said MGNREGA embodies Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of village self-rule and has served as a crucial economic safety net, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. He alleged that the Prime Minister has been “irritated” by the scheme since its inception and has spent the last decade trying to weaken it, with the new bill aimed at “wiping it out completely.”
“Modi ji has a deep hatred for two things – the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and the rights of the poor. MGNREGA is a living embodiment of Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of village self-rule – it is a lifeline for millions of rural lives, which also proved to be their economic safety shield during the COVID era. However, Prime Minister Modi has always been irritated by this scheme, and for the past ten years, he has been trying to weaken it. Today, he is determined to wipe out MGNREGA completely,” said Rahul Gandhi.
Outlining what he termed the core principles of MGNREGA, Gandhi highlighted the legal right to employment on demand, the freedom of villages to decide their development works, and the Centre’s responsibility to bear the full cost of wages along with 75% of material costs. He claimed that the proposed bill overturns these principles by centralising decision-making, forcing states to shoulder 40% of the expenses, and introducing provisions that could halt work once budgets are exhausted or during harvest seasons.
“This new bill is an insult to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi – the Modi government has already destroyed the future of India’s youth through severe unemployment, and now this bill is a means to eliminate the secure livelihood of rural poor as well. We will oppose this anti-people bill from the village lanes all the way to Parliament,” said the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Calling the move an “insult to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi,” Gandhi argued that the government has already failed India’s youth through rising unemployment and is now targeting the livelihoods of the rural poor. He asserted that the Congress would oppose what it termed an “anti-people” bill, from villages across the country to the floor of Parliament.
