A group of activists, economists, politicians and trade union leaders on Wednesday demanded that the proposed Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Bill that seeks to replace MGNREGA with a new law should be taken back, calling it an assault on the right to work for the poor.
Addressing the media at the Press Club of India, the speakers said the VB-G RAM G Bill turns the guaranteed right to employment enshrined under the MGNREGA-2005 into a discretionary law controlled by the Centre. Among those present were CPI leader Annie Raja, Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav and economists Jean Dreze, Jayati Ghosh and Prabhat Patnaik.
“Twenty years ago, a historic Act was brought in India. For the first time, the right to work as envisioned by the Constitution was given to the people. Today, we’re getting a new law which is diluting and finishing the provisions of the MGNREGA,” said Yadav.
“The MGNREGA provided employment as an act of right. This cannot be undone by a mere majority. Such rights are above the majority vote. This (Bill) is reprehensible,” Patnaik, Professor Emeritus at JNU, said.
The VB-G RAM G Bill proposes to raise the number of guaranteed wage employment days in a financial year from 100 to 125 and proposes division of work into four categories — water security, rural infrastructure, livelihood infrastructure and disaster resilience. It also proposes states to bear 40% of the financial burden, a deviation from the existing arrangement when the Centre takes care of the 100% of the labour cost and 75% of the material cost. For the first time, the Bill proposes a 60-day pause during the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting, a move said to be aimed at ensuring farm labour availability.
“They’re saying a maximum of 125 days – we all know what that means. The average days per year have been only 40 to 50. We’re likely to get much less,” said development economist Ghosh.
“You can’t make decisions like this sitting in Delhi. This is a stupid way to run a country as complicated and diverse as India… This has to be opposed as it is terrible news for federalism,” she added.
Ghosh was referring to the contentious new “normative allocation” formula which transforms the method of allocation of resources into a purely top-down process. Section 4(5) of the VB-G RAM G Bill states: “The Central Government shall determine the state-wise normative allocation for each financial year, based on objective parameters as may be prescribed by the Central Government.”
“The GOI will have full powers to decide financial allocations, the wage rates… power to decide where and when the scheme is to be implemented,” said Dreze, former member of the UPA’s National Advisory Council, and visiting professor at the Department of Economics, Ranchi University.
“Under this Bill, the Centre has full powers and no serious obligations. All the obligations have been palmed off to state governments. Discretionary powers might be used for political purposes. All the states must fight this Bill tooth and nail,” he added.
Raja, on the other hand said that the real motive of the Bill was to provide cheap labour to capitalists and affluent farmers.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More
