MGNREGA Vs VB RAM-G Across the Nation
Shimla | January 30:
Himachal Pradesh joined the nationwide Congress protest against the Centre’s overhaul of MNREGA on Friday as the state’s entire Congress leadership, led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, sat on a silent fast at the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the historic Ridge on his Death Anniversary.
The protest, part of an all-India Congress call, targeted the Centre’s decision to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme with a new framework titled Viksit Bharat – Rozgar Aur Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB RAM-G), which the party alleges has diluted the original spirit of guaranteed rural employment.
The demonstration began with the sounding of a siren, followed by two minutes of silence. The leaders later hold banners in silent protest.
Congress leaders laid a garland at Gandhi’s statue, symbolically invoking his ideals of truth, justice and non-violent resistance.
CM Sukhu, accompanied by Party incharge Rajni Patil, cabinet colleagues, said the new scheme was being pushed as a reform but in reality amounted to the gradual burial of MNREGA, an insult to father of nation Mahatma Gandhi.
He alleged that the Centre was stepping back from its financial and legal responsibility towards rural employment.
Senior leaders including Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri, HPCC president Vinay Kumar, former state Congress chief Pratibha Singh, Col Dhani Ram Shandil, party MLAs, Chairperson, and members of the Congress Seva Dal were present during the silent fast.
What is VB RAM-G
According to inputs available with Himbumail, the Centre has replaced MNREGA with VB RAM-G, which brings several structural changes:
MNREGA’s demand-driven, legally guaranteed employment framework has been replaced with a mission-mode programme
Funding responsibility is now shared between the Centre and states, increasing the financial burden on state governments
Greater focus has been placed on pre-planned asset creation such as infrastructure, water conservation and livelihood projects
Employment days have been increased on paper, but states fear delays in wages and reduced central support
Digital and administrative controls have been tightened, reducing flexibility for local panchayats
Congress’ charge
Congress leaders argued that while VB RAM-G is being projected as a modernised rural employment initiative, it weakens the core idea of MNREGA — employment as a legal right.
They warned that hill states like Himachal Pradesh, which depend heavily on rural job schemes for livelihood security, disaster mitigation and seasonal employment, would be the worst affected.
“Renaming MNREGA and repackaging it as VB RAM-G does not help the rural poor. It shifts responsibility from the Centre to the states and undermines the guarantee of work,” a senior Congress leader said.
The party cautioned that the new framework could lead to rising rural distress, delayed payments and increased migration, and asserted that the silent fast in Shimla was part of a larger national resistance to defend MNREGA and the rights of rural workers across the country.