[Marxistindia] Withdraw VB-GRAMG Bill Immediately

[news from the cpi(m)]

December 15, 2025

 

Press Statement

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the
following statement:

 

Withdraw VB-GRAMG Bill Immediately

 

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongly opposes the Union
government's move to introduce the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and
Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-GRAMG Bill), which seeks to replace
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The
proposed bill completely negates the basic character of the MNREGA, which is
a universal demand driven law providing a limited right to work. It legally
absolves the Union government from its responsibility to allocate funds
according to the demand.

 

The government's claim of increasing guaranteed employment from 100 to 125
days is merely cosmetic. In reality, the Bill opens the door to the
exclusion of large sections of rural households in the name of
rationalisation of job cards. The provision allowing governments to suspend
employment for up to 60 days during peak agricultural seasons will deny work
to rural households when it is most needed and make them dependent on
landlords. Mandating digital attendance at work place is bound to cause
immense difficulties to workers, like loss of work, and denial of their
rights.

 

A major concern is the proposed shift in the funding pattern. The Bill
reduces the Centre's responsibility for wage payments from 100 per cent to a
60:40 sharing arrangement for major states. It shifts the responsibility of
bearing the expenditure on unemployment allowance and delay compensation to
the states. This places an unsustainable financial burden on state
governments while denying them any role in the decision making process. The
introduction of "normative allocation" - with state-wise expenditure
ceilings imposed by the Centre and excess costs borne by states - will
further curtail the programme's reach and dilute the Centre's
accountability.

 

The sinister change in the scheme's name from MNREGA to G RAM G also
reflects the BJP-RSS ideological bent.

 

The CPI(M) demands that the VB-GRAMG Bill be withdrawn immediately. The
Union government must instead engage in consultations with political
parties, trade unions and organisations of the rural poor to strengthen
MGNREGA and ensure its effective implementation as a universal and
rights-based employment guarantee.

 

 

Muralidharan

(For CPI(M) Central Committee Office)

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