A high-octane drama was witnessed in Lok Sabha on Thursday after the “G Ram G” Bill, brought in to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA), was passed in the lower house. Soon after the Bill was passed, chaos erupted in the Lok Sabha and the Opposition leaders were seen tearing the copy of the Bill.
The Centre introduced the Bill, called The Viksit Bharat Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Grameen), shortened as VB G RAM G, two days ago, seeking to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA with a new initiative that guarantees rural jobs for 125 days every year. According to the government, the new Bill presents a new framework aimed at fulfilling the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
Amid the chaos, Union Rural
Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while speaking in Lok Sabha, stated that the scheme, when launched, did not have Mahatma Gandhi’s name mentioned in it, however, it was during the 2009 elections when Congress added his name to NREGA.
VIDEO | Parliament Winter Session: Speaking in Lok Sabha, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says, “Mahatma Gandhi’s name was added to NREGA with an eye on 2009 elections.”#ParliamentWinterSession2025 #MGNREGA
(Source: Third Party)
(Full video available… pic.twitter.com/1Kfkjbs8iK
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Chouhan responded to the eight-hour discussion on G Ram G Bill, asserting that the Modi government was ensuring that the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi were upheld through various initiatives taken by it.
“Congress killed ideals of Bapu, NDA ensured Bapu lives through pucca houses built under the PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, Ayushman Bharat,” Chouhan said listing out government schemes for the welfare of the poor.
Meanwhile, the Opposition members trooped to the well of the House and raised slogans against the government for dropping Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the rural jobs initiative and tore the copies of the G RAM G Bill and flung it towards the chair.
