VB-G RAM G Bill tabled in Lok Sabha amid Opposition protest
“Gandhiji is in our hearts… We are trying to realize Ram Rajya with this plan,” Chouhan said while introducing the bill. Opposition MPs stood up and protested in the Parliament, carrying banners bearing Mahatma Gandhi’s picture. They called on the government to either withdraw the bill or refer it to a Parliamentary committee.
Opposition circles were also outraged over the fact that the proposed bill not only sought to repeal the MGNREGA Act enacted by the UPA, but also sought to erase the “Sonia Gandhi legacy” that the Congress had attached to the Act by attributing it to her role as the then chairman of the National Advisory Council.
During the introduction phase, Speaker Om Birla allowed opposition members like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shashi Tharoor and KC Venugopal of the Congress, TR Balu (DMK), Saugata Roy (AITC), NK Premachandran (RSP) and Supriya Sule (NCP-SP) to register their objections to the introduction of the bill.
“Mahatma Gandhi was not from my family, but still he was like a member of my family. This is the feeling 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,” Vadra said.
He argued that MGNREGA provides demand-driven work and the Centre’s funding for the scheme is also demand-driven and helps the poorest, but the bill proposes to make the scheme supply-driven and reduce central funding from 90% to 60%.
Objecting to the government’s removal of Gandhi’s name from the programme, Tharoor sarcastically sang the Hindi film song ‘Dekho o deewano, tum ye kaam na karo, Ram ka naam badnam na karo’. He further said: “My first objection is the wrong decision to remove the name of the Father of the Nation… But this is not just an administrative tweak, it is an attack on the spirit and philosophical basis of this very important programme… By bearing his (Gandhi’s) name, the original Act recognized this deep connection – that real employment guarantee and promotion must flow from the grassroots and that it embodies the principle of last person first. To remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name is to remove Gandhi’s name. The Bill is significant for its moral compass and historical legitimacy.” Sule said that every legislation must evolve with changing times and demands, but removing the Mahatma’s name from the bill was wrong and requested that it be referred to the Parliament committee.
Defending the proposed law, the agriculture minister said that the law increases the 100 days of guaranteed employment under MGNREGS to 125 days in a year. “The aim of the new plan is to ensure all-round development of villages as per the decision of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay.”
Arguing that the Modi government is committed to the welfare of the poorest, Chouhan said while ₹2,13,000 crore was spent on MGNREGA during the UPA government, the Modi government has spent more than ₹8,53,000 crore on the program and is making continuous efforts to strengthen it.
Opposition members also held protests in front of the Parliament Building before and after the bill became law.
Meanwhile, Congress announced that it will hold nationwide protests against the bill at its regional headquarters on Wednesday.
