Overview
- Tamil Nadu unanimously adopted a resolution calling for demand-based funding, retention of Mahatma Gandhi’s name, and continuation of the original MGNREGA framework in place of the VB-G RAM G Act.
- The BJP questioned the resolution’s constitutional propriety, with spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi asking whether a state assembly can oppose a law passed by Parliament.
- The VB-G RAM G law, enacted in December, raises guaranteed work to 125 days and shifts roughly 40% of costs to most states, a change critics say weakens the rights-based, demand-driven model.
- Congress escalated its nationwide ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ with a workers’ convention in Delhi, as Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge vowed to press the issue in Parliament and on the ground.
- Opposition pushback widened as Punjab and Telangana passed similar resolutions, CPI(M) slated protests for January 30–February 5, Karnataka signaled a Supreme Court move, and leaders flagged fiscal concerns under the new funding pattern.