Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], January 24 (HBTV): Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that a lot of misinformation is being spread about the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgaar and Ajeevika Mission (VB-G RAM-G) scheme, alleging that the INDIA bloc is misleading people over the provisions of the Act.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, the Chief Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has significantly improved the scheme. ‘The lie that the INDIA alliance is trying to spread about the VB-G RAM-G scheme… a lot of misinformation is being spread. The Prime Minister has improved this scheme a lot. They should tell the people what used to happen in the MGNREGA scheme and how people did not used to get the money, or we will tell what used to happen during their time. Now people have understood their lie,’ Saini said.
Earlier, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that the changes introduced under the reformed Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgaar and Ajeevika Mission Act, 2025, are people-centric, and alleged that the Congress’ opposition to the legislation is driven by political considerations.
Speaking to ANI, Meghwal said that several issues had been raised by people regarding the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. ‘When we went among the people, the demand arose that we should make changes in MGNREGA. Congress leaders had also raised this issue. The first issue was that workers are not available during the farming season, so some changes should be made. The second issue was that drainage and security in villages had not been given enough importance, and changes should also be made to improve rural infrastructure,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has announced a nationwide three-phase agitation titled ‘MGNREGA Bachao’ following the enactment of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act. The first phase of the 45-day ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ across states, districts, blocks and gram panchayats is scheduled to begin on January 8.
On December 21, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the VB-G RAM-G Bill, 2025, which replaced MGNREGA. The new Act increases the statutory wage employment guarantee to 125 days per financial year for rural households and aims to promote empowerment, inclusive growth, convergence of development initiatives and saturation-based delivery in rural areas.
(ANI)