Opposition Critiques Union’s Rozgar Bill as Covert Erosion of MGNREGA Framework

The Union government is expected to table the Viksit Bharat, Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, which seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, a landmark rights-based employment law introduced by the Congress-led UPA government.

Under the proposed legislation, the number of guaranteed workdays would increase to 125 days per year, up from the current 100 days mandated under MGNREGA. The scheme, which applies across all rural districts, guarantees unskilled employment to any rural household that demands work, aimed at strengthening livelihood security.

However, the bill proposes significant structural and financial changes. While MGNREGA currently places the wage burden entirely on the Union government, with states sharing only material and administrative costs,  the new framework would require states to bear 40% of the total expenditure. 

The Centre would also determine state-wise allocations annually based on “objective parameters.”

Another major shift is that only the Union government would have the authority to notify rural areas where the scheme would be implemented, reducing the role of state governments in its execution.

The draft bill retains the provision for an unemployment allowance if work is not provided within 15 days of an application, though the entire cost of this allowance would now be borne by states.

On Monday, NREGA Sangharsh, a collective representing MGNREGA workers, demanded that any amendments to the law be made only after public disclosure and democratic consultations with workers, trade unions, labour organisations and state governments.

They alleged that the Bill was brought forward without any prior public consultation, was not included in the government’s Tentative Legislative Agenda for the current session. 

“We will oppose and resist this regressive step,” the group said.

 “We will not allow a law born out of workers’ struggles to be dismantled through unilateral decisions.”

“#mgnrega is not a scheme, it is a legal right won through workers’ struggle. Any change to the Act cannot be done behind closed doors,” they said demanding, “ transparency, public disclosure & democratic consultations with workers, worker’ organisations , trade unions & states.”

Opposition parties sharply criticised the proposed changes.

CPI(M) MP John Brittas said the government was stripping the programme of its rights-based character and replacing it with a centrally controlled, conditional scheme.

“This is cost-shifting by stealth, not reform,” Brittas said, stating,  “States are being forced to pay more while the Centre retreats, yet continues to claim credit. This bill dismantles MGNREGA fiscally, institutionally and morally.”

CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby called it an “attempt to hide the startling fact that the basic rights-based framework under which it operated is being dismantled, and the central share brought down drastically.”

“The buck is being passed on to states, and the Centre can now punish opposition-ruled states by cutting down allocations. It will also codify into law the technological interventions through which lakhs of people are being deprived of their entitlements,” he said, calling it “reckless act coming on the heels of the notification of the draconian labour codes.”

The proposed overhaul comes amid ongoing demands from several states to increase both wages and the number of guaranteed workdays under the scheme. 

In April, a parliamentary standing committee recommended raising daily wages to at least ₹400 and increasing guaranteed employment to 150 days annually.

Currently, daily wages under MGNREGA range between ₹241 and ₹400, depending on the state. Despite the statutory guarantee of 100 days, households received an average of only 50 days of work in the 2024–25 financial year.

Reacting to the proposed changes, the Congress said MGNREGA,  once dismissed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “symbol of Congress’ failures,”  has proved to be a lifeline for rural India.

“Renaming Congress schemes and claiming them as his own has been Modi ji’s old habit,” Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said. “For 11 years, he has rebranded UPA programmes for political mileage.”

West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress also criticised the move, calling the removal of “Mahatma” from MGNREGA ideologically motivated rather than administrative.

“This is not a routine policy change,” the party said, noting “it reflects a deeper political agenda.”

The post Opposition slams Union’s new Rozgar Bill as ‘backdoor dismantling’ of MGNREGA’s rights-based framework appeared first on Maktoob media.