The Congress on Monday lashed out at the Narendra Modi-led Central government over the VB-G RAM G Act, calling the new law “rozgar chori” and saying it was already exposing the cost of “destroying” MGNREGA.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP has wielded the 'lathi' not just against the youth, but also against hardworking labourers of the country.
"Under the Modi government, MGNREGA was scrapped, stripping millions of families of their 'right to work', and in its place, VB GRAM G was imposed, which wiped out the employment of 50% of laborers. Has the payment of Rs 17,144 crore in pending MGNREGA funds been made to the states?" Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
Has any assistance been provided to drought-affected states, Kharge asked.
"There is a 26.50% shortfall in sowing for the Kharif crop—does anyone care?
Has the central government taken any steps regarding the Funding Pattern of VB GRAM G, on which BJP-ruled states had demanded a review? When the country's poor labourers are suffering the most, the Modi government is snatching away their Minimum Economic and Social Security and mocking them," Kharge said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which cited official data to claim that employment generation under the government's re-vamped rural job guarantee programme saw a sharp decline, registering a fall of 49.94 per cent year-on-year in July.
"The first month of the Modi Government's VB-G RAM G is already exposing the cost of destroying MGNREGA," Ramesh said on X.
In July 2026, the first month since the new law was adopted, rural employment generation fell sharply compared to July 2025 when MGNREGA was in operation, the former rural development minister said.
Citing the report, he said there was 49.94% decline in person-days of work, 51.45% fewer households availed employment and nearly 50% fewer person-days of employment was generated.
This is precisely what was predicted by the Congress and the entire Opposition when the MGNREGA was bulldozed by the Modi regime, he said.
Ramesh said MGNREGA gave rural workers a legal guarantee of employment and empowered Gram Panchayats to implement it.
The spirit of MGNREGA was to free workers from dependence on the political whims of the government of the day, he asserted.
"The Modi Government has instead centralised the scheme, imposed a heavy financial burden on State governments, made access increasingly dependent on technology and biometric authentication, removed the guarantee of employment, and made it harder for workers to claim their rights. VB-G RAM G is simply rozgar chori," Ramesh said.
The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, or the VB G RAM G Act, came into force across the country from July 1, replacing the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), introduced by the Congress-led UPA.
(With inputs from PTI)