Overview
- Parliament’s VB-G RAM G Act, now in force with presidential assent, replaces MGNREGA and promises 125 days of work, unemployment allowance if work is not provided, penalties for delayed wages, and greater gram sabha control over works.
- The BJP has finalized a booth-level outreach to promote the law, with JP Nadda chairing strategy meetings, a door-to-door drive planned for the coming week, and a monitoring team led by Arun Singh to steer messaging.
- Congress has formed a coordination committee led by Ajay Maken for its ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ from January 10 to February 25, seeking withdrawal of the Act and restoration of a rights-based guarantee.
- Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Giriraj Singh accused Congress of shielding graft, citing over 1.051 million social-audit complaints under MGNREGA and projecting Rs 1,51,282 crore for the scheme next year with over Rs 95,600 crore from the Centre.
- Opposition parties and activists argue the 60:40 Centre–state cost-sharing and normative allocations will burden states and dilute demand-driven entitlements, as state-level pushback grows with AAP-led protests in Punjab and Assembly resolutions challenging the law.