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The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) on Sunday held a protest in Mohali against the Central Government's decision to replace the MGNREGA scheme with the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said the fundamental character of MGNREGA has been changed, announcing that the Congress Working Committee meeting scheduled for December 27 will finalise an action plan for a nationwide movement across all states against the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G-RAM-G) Bill passed in Parliament. Speaking to ANI, Ramesh said the new legislation has taken away employment opportunities from rural, deprived and exploited sections of society. "The fundamental character of MGNREGA has been changed; the basic structure of the scheme has been altered. The employment that was being provided to rural, deprived, and exploited people has been taken away," he said. Ramesh further accused the BJP of acting out of ideological bias. "They hate Mahatma Gandhi's name, and they hate the laws enacted during the Congress regime. I don't understand why they rushed this through," he said, adding that the law was enacted without consultations with state governments. On Saturday, Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the BJP's "Nathuram Godse mindset has not ended yet" after the VB-G RAM G Bill (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)) was passed by the Parliament. Speaking to ANI, Warring said that including the name of Ram and removing Mahatma Gandhi's name from MGNREGA is a "way to fool people," with the ultimate aim of killing the scheme itself."Removing the name of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, is not a good thing; it shows that the BJP's Nathuram Godse-like mindset has not ended yet. We all have faith in Lord Ram, but including Lord Ram's name in government schemes will not achieve anything; it's just a way to fool people," he said. During the recently concluded winter session, the Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB--G RAM G) Bill, with the Rajya Sabha approving the legislation hours after the Lok Sabha passed it. The Bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work. As per Section 22, the fund-sharing pattern between the Centre and the states will be 60:40, while for the Northeastern states, the Himalayan states, and the Union Territories, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, it will be 90:10. Section 6 of the Bill allows state governments to notify in advance a period aggregating up to 60 days in a financial year, covering peak agricultural seasons such as sowing and harvesting. (ANI)
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