New Delhi [India], December 18 (ANI): The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, which replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) amid huge uproar from the Opposition MPs.

While Opposition MPs flagged the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from India's flagship rural employment scheme, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defended the renaming of the scheme and accused the Opposition of deviating from Mahatma Gandhi's ideals.

Addressing the House, Shivraj Chouhan said, 'Bapu is our ideal, our inspiration. We are committed to following the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi Ji, which is why the Bharatiya Janata Party has incorporated Gandhi Ji's social and economic philosophy into its Panchnischay. The opposition is murdering Bapu's ideals. Yesterday in the House, I listened to the honourable members until 1:30 am. You listen to your own words and don't listen to ours; this too is violence.'

As the Lower House was adjourned after passing the Bill, the Union Minister slammed the Congress over the ruckus in Parliament and the alleged tearing of a copy of the Bill, stating that the INDIA bloc MPs undermined the integrity of democracy.

Addressing a press conference, Shivraj Chouhan criticised the INDIA bloc MPs' behaviour during his address in the Lower House, while backing the legislation.

He said, 'The behaviour of the opposition in the Lok Sabha today, including members of the Congress and the INDIA Alliance, has undermined the integrity of our democracy. Parliamentary decorum has been thoroughly disregarded. Democracy has been transformed into mobocracy. There was a discussion on VB-G RAM-G Bill yesterday, which went on until 1:30 am. We listened carefully to the opposition. I said I would answer each question, but I should be heard. But pages were torn, and they got onto the tables. Isn't it a murder of Bapu's (Mahatma Gandhi) ideals?'

Defending the Bill, he stated that rural development schemes have evolved over time, and the VB-G RAM-G scheme will provide an employment guarantee of 125 days, compared with 100 days under MGNREGA.

Addressing the issue of 60:40 share of funds between the Centre and the state governments, the Union Minister said that the Centre's share exceeds Rs 95,000 crore out of the total proposed Rs 1,51,282 crore.

He said, 'You speak your view, but do not let others speak. Isn't it immoral? I condemn their actions. There have been many schemes for rural development. One scheme runs for a few days, and then changes, like Sampoorn Gramin Rojgar Yojana, Jawahar Rojgar Yojana, and then MNREGA came. It was not named after Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, so was it an insult to him? Welfare of the poor is a resolve of the BJP, and many schemes were brought under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is why 25 crore people have been uplifted from the poverty line.'

'Viksit Gaon for Viksit Bharat is a resolve for Modi ji. There was an employment guarantee for 100 days, which has been raised to 125 days, and to support this expansion, adequate funds have been proposed, totalling Rs 1,51,282 crore. Of this amount, the Centre's share exceeds Rs 95,000 crore,' the BJP leader said.

Union Minister Chirag Paswan also lashed out at the Opposition for creating ruckus in the Parliament, saying that the role that the Opposition played in the passing of this Bill is 'shameful.'

The Union Minister alleged that the Congress MPs stood before the Chair and 'shredded decorum.'

Speaking to reporters, Paswan said, 'I think that the role that the Opposition played in the passing of this Bill is shameful. The oldest party of the country trampled on old traditions, which can never be accepted. Do oppose, you have the right to do so. But if you want to further your mindset by demolishing decorum...Congress MPs stood before the Chair and shredded decorum. If you present your ideas like that, it is not in line with traditions, and this will never be accepted,' he further stated.

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad also criticised the opposition, saying, 'What conduct did the Congress party exhibit in the Lok Sabha today? There was discussion for 10 hours until night. You had the chance to make your point, but when Shivraj Singh Chouhan came to respond, you were tearing up the bill... Has the Congress party now become an anarchic party?'

'They should stop taking the name of Gandhi ji. It was elaborated in detail that in the country's development, whether it be Swachh Bharat, the housing scheme for the poor, the drinking water scheme, all those schemes that have been implemented on the ground, Gandhi ji resides in them. Not just in name. Today, I felt great pain from this conduct of the entire opposition, especially the Congress party. Don't you have faith in the democratic process?' the BJP MP added.

BJP MP Anurag Thakur backed the Bill, stating that the Bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household in each financial year to such rural households, beyond the earlier 100-day entitlement.

Thakur told reporters, 'I ask the Congress that schemes of this kind have been running since 1980. Even until then, Congress did not remember Mahatma Gandhi; they remembered him in 2009. The poor are benefiting today; instead of 100 days, they are getting 125 days of employment, and the daily wage has been increased, and the Modi government has put a stop to the looting and pilfering that used to happen.'

BJP MP Arun Govil claimed that the Opposition MPs did not remember Mahatma Gandhi earlier.

He said, 'The Opposition made a lot of commotion. I have never seen anything like this in this House before. In the past 1-1.5 years, this has never happened. The bill has been passed, and it is a very good bill that will contribute a lot to rural development. Since I came to the House for the first time, I have seen the opposition remember Mahatma Gandhi. Before this, they had not even mentioned the name of Mahatma Gandhi.'

Apart from the provision for the 125-day employment guarantee, Section 22 of the Bill says that the fund-sharing pattern between the Central Government and the State Governments will be 60:40, while for the North Eastern States, Himalayan States, and Union Territories (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 to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting, during which no work will be commenced or executed under the Bill.

The Opposition has strongly criticised the Bill over changing the name of MGNREGA and the Centre-State fund-sharing ratio.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the legislation threatens the future of MGNREGA. Addressing reporters, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stated, 'We will protest against this bill. With this bill, MGNREGA will end in the coming months. The moment the burden shifts to the states, this scheme will gradually end. This bill is against the poor.'

The Congress MP further highlighted concerns that the bill's implementation would place undue responsibility on state governments. 'However, you look at it, and any sensible person will understand this, this is a clever trick involving 100 to 125 days. If anyone reads this bill, it will become crystal clear that this entire scheme will end in the coming months. Because as soon as the burden of providing this much money falls on the state governments, the scheme will gradually come to an end,' she said.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that the BJP government wants to remove the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking to ANI, Chidambaram said, 'It is a tragic day in our country. The MGNREGA was a program on which many people depended for their livelihood. This is a revisionist government which wants to remove the memory of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, by coming up with a bizarre name, VB G RAM G. They are not only revisionist but also anti-poor and anti-marginalised. We will take this message to the people of India.'

Congress MP Manickam Tagore launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the government of systematically erasing Mahatma Gandhi's legacy by repealing the MGNREGA.

In a post on X, Manickam Tagore invoked Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and wrote, 'Godse assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. Modi is erasing Mahatma Gandhi's name. One pulled the trigger. The other is removing his legacy--quietly, systematically, through Bills and policies. India is watching. History will judge.'

Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan said, 'This is very unfortunate. The entire opposition wanted this MGNREGA bill to be sent to the JPC. It is unfortunate that they have removed Mahatma Gandhi's name from it, and they have made such amendments that it will end in a few years. Now the central government will only give 60 per cent of the funds. The way they have amended it, they have completely eliminated its importance. They got it passed in the Lok Sabha in haste, and now it will come to the Rajya Sabha. We will try to ensure that it goes to the JPC.'

The VB-G RAM-G Bill also witnessed opposition at the state level, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announcing that the Karmashree scheme of the state government will be named after Mahatma Gandhi as a response to the Centre's legislation replacing MGNREGA.

Speaking at the Business and Industry Conclave at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, Mamata Banerjee called the changing of the name of India's flagship rural employment scheme a matter of 'deep shame.'

She said, ' We have also started the Karmashree project, as MNREGA funds have also been stopped. Removal of Gandhiji's name fills me with deep shame. They are forgetting the father of the nation. We have decided to rename our Karmashree scheme after Mahatma Gandhi.'

'If you don't know how to respect Mahatma Gandhi, then we certainly know how to honour him and others like Netaji, Rabindranath Tagore and others,' West Bengal CM added.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also raised a strong objection to the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, alleging a 'severe financial burden on states' under the 60:40 fund-sharing setup between the Centre and state governments.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Tamil Nadu CM welcomed the move to raise the guaranteed employment period to 125 days per year, up from 100 days under MGNREGA, while opposing the fund-sharing model and the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name.

He said that the changes 'alter the fundamental rights-based character of MGNREGA, making it a centrally controlled, budget-capped programme.' (ANI)