New Delhi: Amid widespread criticism and objections from opposition parties, the Union government on Tuesday (December 16) introduced in Lok Sabha the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, which seeks to repeal the United Progressive Alliance-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the world’s largest such guarantee for 100 days of work in rural areas.Opposition members opposed the bill at the introduction stage itself, accusing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government of erasing Mahatma Gandhi’s name in its “obsession” with changing names, and said that the proposed legislation sought to dismantle the legal guarantee for the right to work by reducing it to any other centrally sponsored scheme, while placing its financial burden on states.Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, however, said the new legislation was in “accordance with the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, and for the establishment of Ram Rajya”.Despite an uproar from opposition benches, where members stood holding placards of Gandhi, and their loud protests against introducing the Bill, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla pushed ahead with the government’s agenda and allowed it to be introduced by voice vote.‘Insult to Gandhi’, ‘personal obsession and prejudice’When the Bill was introduced by Chouhan, opposition party members raised objections to the change in the name of the MGNREGA by removing Gandhi’s name and demanded that the legislation be sent to a standing committee.Congress Member of Parliament Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that MGNREGA was a “revolutionary law that was passed unanimously” and that no bill should be passed because of “personal obsession and prejudice”.Also read: VB–G RAM G Bill Formalises MGNREGA Disintegration“There is an obsession with changing names of schemes. Whenever this is done, it costs money, for both the centre and the state. The bill should not be passed in haste, without taking the advice of the House and without any discussion,” she said.“Mahatma Gandhi was not from my family, but he was still like a member of my family. This is the emotion of the entire nation. This bill should be sent to the Standing Committee for further deliberations. No bill should be tabled and passed because of someone’s personal obsession and prejudice,” she said.Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Ray opposed the introduction of the bill and replacing “the name of the father of the nation with G Ram G.”“Ramji is respected by everyone in the country but Mahatma Gandhi is much more relevant. We object to the distortion of the name [of the Act],” he said.“We also object that instead of being demand driven, it has become a supply driven scheme; states are having to cough up 40 per cent of the total allotment, which will put pressure on state’s finances. We should refer it to the select committee that can go into the merits of the bill.”MGNREGA guaranteed every rural household 100 days of work based on demand for work, and it was funded by the Union government. The Wire has reported that the new bill proposes to establish a rural development framework “aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047, by providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work”.The bill also seeks to reduce the Union government’s responsibility in wage payments from a 90:10 to a 60:40 share, and provides for a period – aggregating to sixty days in a financial year and covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting – during which works under the new system, shall not be undertaken.Also read: For Farmers, Women, the Poor and the Youth, Budget 2025-26 Offers Only Symbolic ChangesIt also provides for the Union government to “determine the state-wise normative allocation for each financial year, based on objective parameters as may be prescribed by the central government”.Congress general secretary and MP K.C. Venugopal said that Chouhan will be “remembered as the minister who removed Gandhi’s name from the scheme”.‘Spirit of Gandhi and establishment of Ram Rajya’While opposition leaders in parliament accused the government of insulting Gandhi, Chouhan said that the government’s bill was “in accordance with the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, and for the establishment of Ram Rajya”.Chouhan said Gandhi lived in hearts, and that the proposed legislation is based on his and Deen Dayal Upadhyay’s ideals. He said that while the Congress party and the UPA government had spent about Rs 2,13,220 crore on MGNREGA, the Modi government had spent over Rs 8,53,810 crore on “development of the poor”.In a bid to shift focus away from removing Gandhi’s name from the bill, Chouhan said that the Congress too had removed the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana.“We have increased the work days from 100 to 125 guaranteed days. Before this many employment schemes were brought. Congress itself had changed Jawahar Rozgar Yojana’s name, was that an insult to Jawaharlal Nehru? Our objective is development of the poor, and of the village as Gandhi used to say,” he said.Also read: MGNREGS Remains Underfunded Despite High DemandChouhan said that Gandhi lives in hearts and it was his vision that Ram Rajya be established.“Bapu hamare dil mein baste hain aur bapu hi kehte the Ram Rajya (Bapu lives in our hearts and he himself called for a Ram Rajya). Just because G Ram G has come that is why they have become upset,” he said.“Mahatma Gandhi himself wanted the establishment of Ram Rajya and his final words were also ‘Hey Ram’. This guarantee will be fulfilled, and it has not been weakened in any way. Yeh poora Bill Mahatma Gandhi ki bhawana ke anuroop hai, aur Ram Rajya ki sthapana ke liye hai (This Bill is entirely in accordance with the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, and for the establishment of Ram Rajya).”‘Not just an administrative tweak’In his remarks, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that the renaming was not “not just an administrative tweak”.“It is an assault on the spirit and philosophical foundation of this crucial programme. Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Ram Rajya was never a purely a political programme, but a socio-economic blueprint of the empowerment of villages, and unwavering vision of Gram Swaraj was a part of his vision of Ram Rajya,” he said.“To remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi is to strip the bill of its moral compass and historical legitimacy and then to have two languages in the title just to make the acronym G Ram G is not just a violation of Article 348 but it also reminds me of a song from my childhood – Dekho o deewano, tum ye kaam na karo, Ram ka naam badnaam na karo.”Speaker ignores opposition to allow introduction of the billAmid loud protests from opposition parties during and after Chouhan’s remarks, where he made no mention of why the legislation was being introduced, or its name being changed, Birla took a voice vote.While opposition members held Gandhi’s placards and said “opposing” in unison, Birla ruled in favour of the treasury benches and allowed the Bill to be tabled.