New Delhi [India], December 16 (HBTV): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday termed the Central government’s draft bill to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA) as ‘unfortunate,’ stating that the concept of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya were never competing forces.
His remarks come as the Centre is set to introduce the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevil Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, which seeks to replace the MGNREGA scheme.
Tharoor said removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme amounts to a dishonour to his legacy, noting that Gandhi’s final breath was a testament to Lord Ram. In a post on X, he said, ‘The controversy over renaming MGNREGA in the government’s proposed new G-RAM-G Bill is unfortunate. The concept of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya were never competing forces; they were the twin pillars of Gandhiji’s consciousness.’
‘Replacing the Mahatma’s name in a scheme for the rural poor ignores this profound symbiosis. His final breath was a testament to ‘Ram’; let us not dishonour his legacy by creating a division where none existed,’ he added.
The Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevil Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, seeks to align rural development with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, with a focus on empowerment, growth, convergence and saturation to build a prosperous and resilient rural Bharat.
Under the proposed legislation, public works will be aggregated to form the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, with priority given to water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related projects and climate-resilient initiatives. The bill also aims to ensure adequate availability of farm labour during peak agricultural seasons and to institutionalise Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans for integrated, saturation-driven planning.
These plans are proposed to be linked with PM Gati Shakti through geospatial systems-based digital public infrastructure, as well as district- and state-level planning mechanisms. The bill further mandates a modern digital governance framework incorporating biometric authentication, GPS- and mobile-based monitoring, real-time dashboards, proactive disclosures and the use of Artificial Intelligence tools for planning, auditing and fraud risk mitigation.
The legislation also provides definitions for adult members, households, blocks, implementing agencies, unskilled manual work and the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan, and proposes the establishment of Central and State Grameen Rozgar Guarantee Councils along with National- and State-level Steering Committees to oversee implementation. (ANI)