TN Assembly passes resolution, asks centre to protect MGNREGS
CHENNAI: The Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution urging the union government to retain the foundational principles of MGNREGS.
The resolution, moved by Chief Minister MK Stalin, also urged the centre to retain demand-driven funding pattern, cost-sharing structure and Mahatma Gandhi’s name in the rural job gurantee scheme, now renamed as VB-G RAM G.
Leaders of alliance parties of the DMK supported the resolution, while the AIADMK said there are efforts to create an impression that the scheme itself would be abolished. However, during the voice vote, the AIADMK did not oppose the resolution. The BJP MLAs were absent on Friday due to the Maduranthakam (near Chennai) meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The House urged the union government to retain the original name of the scheme (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) instead of the new name given to it – Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin).
The other key demands made in the resolution are: Upholding the rural right to work by ensuring continuous funding under MGNREG Act based on employment demand and state performance, as mandated by the Act, 2005; protecting the livelihoods and social security by maintaining allocations at least at previous years’ levels to safeguard women, persons with disabilities, SC/STs; rejecting discretionary funding and continuing demand-driven allocations, while respecting federal principles by allowing states to determine fund distribution based on employment demand; and avoiding increase in the state’s financial burden by retaining the funding pattern for the new scheme similar to that of MGNREGA, instead of raising the state share to 40%.
The resolution said the name Mahatma Gandhi (Father of the Nation) has been removed from the scheme, which has been renamed VB-G RAM G with various ulterior motives.
On a day when PM Modi was in Chennai, Stalin targeted the BJP-led union government on the floor of the state Assembly, charging that it was meting out a stepmotherly treatment to Tamil Nadu by not releasing funds (for central schemes) based on progress of a project and that its release is deliberately delayed.
“In several flagship schemes of the union government, Tamil Nadu’s performance ranks among the best in the country and has consistently earned appreciation from various union ministries. Yet, we continue to witness the union government pursuing a policy of discrimination against TN,” the CM said.
Stalin also pointed out that in 2025-26, allocations under MGNREGA have been far lower than in previous years, with Rs 1,026 crore in wages and Rs 1,087 crore in material costs still remaining unreleased, a recurring problem. Similar delays persist under the Jal Jeevan Mission (Rs 3,112 crore pending) and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Rs 516 crore pending), hurting rural poor and farmers in Tamil Nadu.
The MGNREGS had been effectively implemented in the state, guaranteeing 100 days of work annually to 65 lakh households, benefiting about 74 lakh workers, over 85% of them being women.
Responding to the views expressed by the members of various political parties, the CM expressed confidence that Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami would strongly pursue the matter raised in the resolution during his (EPS) meeting with the PM. Referring to the view of Deputy Leader of the Opposition R B Udhayakumar that the resolution was aimed at creating an impression that the rural job guarantee scheme would be done away with, the CM said, “They should first realise what the rural people are saying.”