NEW DELHI: With the Centre set to roll out the new rural job scheme, VB-G RAM G Act, from July 1, opposition parties and rural rights groups have stepped up their attacks, saying the new framework could centralise decision-making, increase financial burden on states, and dilute the legal guarantees available under MGNREGA.
While rural workers have announced nationwide protest against VB-G RAM G on July 1, the Congress on Sunday said several states have raised concerns regarding the new scheme. Congress-ruled Telangana is considering moving the Supreme Court against the new law. The Telangana government said it will consult Karnataka and Kerala to assess whether the two states are willing to pursue a common legal strategy to protect the states’ financial interests.
Even BJP-governed states, such as MP, Bihar, and Uttarakhand, have opposed additional expenditure burden on states, said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh in a post on X.
“Four other state governments have opposed the scheme’s blackout period during the peak agricultural season,” Ramesh said. Even MP, the home state of Union rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, is voicing concerns, Ramesh alleged.
The government has said 26 states have completed the procedural requirements for implementing the new scheme.
Saptagiri Ulaka, Congress MP and chairman of the standing committee on rural development, said, “Our first concern is that MGNREGA guarantees the right to work, whereas VB-G RAM G is a supply-driven scheme. Under the new scheme, the financial burden is expected to shift to a 60:40 split in the Centre-state sharing model. If a state government is unable to contribute its share, the scheme will be stopped.”
26 states completed procedural requirements: Govt
The government has said that 26 states have completed the procedural requirements necessary for implementing the new scheme, while four states—Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana, and Mizoram are yet to complete all the formalities necessary.