Overview
- Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge joined the MGNREGA Workers’ Convention in New Delhi, launching the next phase of the party’s ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ as a nationwide mobilisation.
- Kharge said the party will press the issue in Parliament’s Budget session beginning January 28, calling for withdrawal of the VB-G RAM G Act and restoration of MGNREGA’s rights-based framework.
- Congress leaders and worker groups alleged the new law centralises control, removes key protections such as the right-to-work safeguards and unemployment allowance, and sidelines panchayats.
- Critics said the Act shifts a larger funding burden to states, with reports of a 60:40 Centre–state split, and objected to removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the programme.
- The VB-G RAM G law, passed on December 18, 2025, replaces MGNREGA with a 125-day employment guarantee as protests continue across states, including rallies and memoranda from worker organisations.