Parliament LIVE Updates: VB-G RAM G Bill Tabled In LS, Oppn Leaders Protest Over Removal Of Mahatma Gandhi's Name

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took a sharp dig at the BJP-led Centre while opposing the VB-G RAM G Bill in the Lok Sabha, recalling the 1971 hit Bollywood number -- "Dekho o deewano (tum) ye kaam na karo, Ram ka naam badnaam na karo". The MP from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram asserted that the bill is not merely an administrative tweak but an "assault on the very spirit and philosophical foundation of this crucial programme".

"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 said.

Asserting that Gandhi's vision of Ram Rajya was never a purely political project, the former Union minister said it was a socio-economic blueprint rooted in the empowerment of villages, and his unwavering faith in Gram Swaraj was part of his vision of Ram Rajya.

"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. To remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi is to strip the bill of its moral compass and historical legitimacy," Tharoor said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed the VB-G RAM G 2025 bill on rural employment an insult to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, and accused the Modi government of seeking to eliminate the secure livelihood of the rural poor after destroying the future of India's youth through severe unemployment.

"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. But Prime Minister Modi has always been irritated by this scheme, and for the past 10 years, he has been trying to weaken it. Today, he is determined to wipe out MGNREGA completely," Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.

- According to a copy of the Bill, it will provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.

- Within six months from the date of commencement of the VB-G RAM G Act, states will have to make a scheme consistent with the provisions of the new law.

In a statement, the Rural Development Ministry said the Bill aims to create both employment and durable rural infrastructure through four priority verticals -- water security through water-related works, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and special works to mitigate extreme weather events.

All assets created are aggregated into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, ensuring a unified, coordinated national development strategy, the statement said. The ministry termed it a "major upgrade" over MGNREGA, fixing structural weaknesses while enhancing employment, transparency, planning, and accountability.

"Our party, the Samajwadi Party, and our leader Akhilesh Yadav will not tolerate any insult to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at any cost," SP leader and Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad said.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday strongly opposed the Viksit Bharat Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, also known as the VB-G Ram G Bill, asserting that the proposed legislation would "weaken" the original Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and undermine its guaranteed 100 days of employment.

Participating in the Lok Sabha debate, the Wayanad MP said that no legislation should be rushed through Parliament without adequate consultation or discussion, and alleged that the Bill was being pushed through due to "personal obsession" or "bias."

"The bill should not be rushed through without proper consultation with the House or any discussion. It ought to be withdrawn, and the government should introduce a new bill," Priyanka Gandhi said while addressing the House.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday joined the opposition leaders protesting against the introduction of the VB-G RAM G Bill 2025, which aims to replace the existing rural employment scheme, MGNREGA. The opposition leaders are protesting against the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the rural employment scheme.

Opposition MPs protest outside Makar Dwar in Parliament against the MGNREGA renaming issue. Watch Video

"No greater man than Mahatma Gandhi has ever been born in the world. After Mahatma Gandhi's death, there wasn't a single flag in the world, except for that of Soviet Russia, that didn't lower in his honor. But these people (BJP) get a fever just hearing Gandhi's name. Why are they doing all this? It would have been better if they had named it the Godse scheme. The review should have focused on how effective this scheme has been. The states are not in a good financial condition, and putting more burden on them is not right," Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman said.

Shortly after the bill was tabled, opposition member started opposing the legislation and questioned the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name. Opposition leaders said that erasing Mahatma Gandhi's name shows how "hollow and hypocritical" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gestures of paying homage to the Father of the Nation are.

Tabling the bill in the Lok Sabha, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that VB-G RAM G Bill 2025 aims to empower the poor by providing them ample employment days and increased minimum wages. In the new VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, the employment days have been increased from 100 to 125 days.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today tabled the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, which has been introduced with the aim to rename the existing MGNREGA rural employment scheme, introduced under the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.