‘Gandhi not from my family’: Priyanka slams Modi Govt’s 'renaming obsession'

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday (December 16) slammed the Centre over introducing the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, to replace the MGNREGA, accusing the Modi government of being obsessed with renaming schemes. The Congress MP, in a veiled dig at the Centre over dropping Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme, said that Gandhi did not belong to her family.

Priyanka further stated that the Bill should be sent to the Standing Committee for further deliberations, adding that no bill should be passed to satisfy someone’s obsession.

Demands bill be sent to Standing Committee

"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 obsession and prejudice," said Priyanka.

Also Read: Protest erupts in Lok Sabha as govt introduces G-RAM-G bill dropping Gandhi's name

“The bill should not be passed in haste, without taking the advice of the House and without any discussion. This bill should be withdrawn, and the government should introduce a new bill,” she added as quoted by the Hindustan Times.

‘Bid to weaken MGNREGA’

Speaking to reporters outside the House, the Congress leader further alleged that the government was trying to weaken the MGNREGA, stating that the original Act guaranteed 100 days of employment to the poorest of the poor.

The Congress general secretary also said she does not understand the Modi government's "obsession" with renaming schemes.

Also Read: Why MGNREGA, in G Ram G avatar, could be new pain point in Centre-state ties

"Firstly, the process of renaming schemes costs a lot of money to the country, so I don't understand why they are doing it," Priyanka Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

Second, MGNREGA guaranteed 100 days of employment to the poorest of the poor, but the new bill will weaken this right under MGNREGA, she said.

‘Has the wage rate increased’

The government has added two or three things to the bill that superficially suggest an increase in the number of working days. "But has the wage rate been increased?" She asked.

Also Read: Why Centre’s plan to remove Mahatma Gandhi from MGNREGA has triggered a political storm

"For so many years, you (government) have been reducing funds for MGNREGA, wherever one goes, labourers will say money has not come," Priyanka Gandhi said.

Earlier, the gram panchayat used to decide the work to be done under the scheme, but this bill gives the Centre that right and where funds are to be allocated, she said.

'Gram panchayat's power snatched'

"So the right of the gram panchayat to decide where to allocate funds and where to get the work done is being snatched away. So from all perspectives we feel this bill is wrong," Priyanka Gandhi said.

Also Read: MGNREGA renaming sparks Opposition charge of Hindi imposition

The Congress has strongly objected to the bill that seeks to replace MGNREGA. It said 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.

Congress slams govt over VB-G RAM G bill

The opposition party has alleged that the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, "attacks the soul" of rights-based guarantee by replacing it with a scheme "stacked against" the states and the workers and defies the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.

Also Read: Renaming MGNREGA: Congress accuses BJP of 'hating' Mahatma Gandhi

According to a copy of the bill, it will provide 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.

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.

State-Centre share changed

The financial liability would be shared between the Centre and the state governments. It would be 90:10 for the Northeastern states and Himalayan states, and 60:40 for all other states and Union territories with legislature. For the UTs without a legislature, the whole cost would be borne by the Centre. The MGNREGS is a 100 per cent centrally sponsored scheme.

"The scheme, which will now be known as the Viksit Bharat Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Grameen), attacks the soul of a rights-based guarantee and replaces it with a conditional, centrally controlled scheme stacked against the states and workers," the party said.

(With agency inputs)