Congress Calls VB-G RAM G Act 'Rozgar Adhikar Chori', Criticizes It As Undermining Right To Work The Congress party has strongly criticized the newly implemented Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, or VB-G RAM G Act, calling it a theft of the constitutional right to work. The law, which came into effect on July 1, replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a scheme introduced by the Congress-led UPA in 2006. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh labeled the new law as "Rozgar Adhikar chori" (theft of the right to work), arguing that it shifts power from local gram panchayats to a centralized system, placing an unsustainable financial burden on state governments. Ramesh accused the government of using technology not to empower rural workers but to exclude them from the scheme. He highlighted that the VB-G RAM G Act is not a year-round guarantee of employment, unlike MGNREGA, which provided 100 days of unskilled work per household. In a post on X, Ramesh shared an article by former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Haseeb Drabu, who criticized the new law as a move away from a rights-based, demand-driven model to a formula-driven, centrally controlled system. Drabu argued that the VB-G RAM G Act transforms MGNREGA into a transfer mechanism determined by the central government, stripping local authorities of their autonomy. The opposition party has demanded the repeal of the VB-G RAM G Act and the reinstatement of a strengthened MGNREGA. They claim the wages under the new law are unjustifiably low, failing to meet the needs of rural workers. Congress has called for adopting the 2019 recommendation of an expert committee led by Dr. Anoop Satpathy, which proposed a just minimum wage for India’s workers, adjusted for inflation since then.#congress #jairam_ramesh #mgnrega #vbg_ram_g_act #haseeb_drabu
