BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to suspend the implementation of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission-Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Act and begin constitutionally mandated consultations with state governments.
In a letter to the PM, Siddaramaiah stated that the repeal of MGNREGA weakens the right to work, centralises discretion and shifts an unfair burden onto states. While the new VB-G RAM G Act raises the number of promised, guaranteed workdays from 100 to 125, it is not matched by planning or assured central funding, the CM stated.
He wrote that the change in funding pattern is a concern. The Act also requires states to notify in advance an aggregate 60-day period during peak sowing and harvesting seasons when work under the Act should not be undertaken.
“While agricultural activity may increase during that time, such a blanket restriction curtails the right of those who still need wage employment, particularly vulnerable groups, including tribal and marginalised communities, who may not find adequate farm work.
This provision is likely to reduce the window in which households can demand employment, put downward pressure on wages and deepen livelihood insecurity, potentially increasing bonded/distress labour, reducing women’s participation and triggering greater migration to urban areas,” the CM stated.
He said the arbitrary and hurried enforcement of the VB-G RAM G Act violates Articles 258 and 280 of the Constitution, which explicitly require consultation with state governments, with focus on fiscal federalism, equitable development and strengthening of local governance before imposing financial frameworks under centrally sponsored schemes. This approach erodes the foundations of cooperative federalism, he said.