New Delhi, December 20, 2025: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Modi government, accusing it of dismantling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and vowing that the Congress would resist what she described as a “black law” through lakhs of party workers across the country.
In a video message, Gandhi alleged that the weakening of MGNREGA amounted to an assault on the interests of crores of farmers, labourers and landless people, particularly in rural India. She claimed that the Centre had consistently ignored the concerns of the rural poor over the past 11 years.
Recalling the passage of MGNREGA nearly two decades ago under the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, the former Congress president described the legislation as a “revolutionary step” that transformed rural employment by providing livelihood security to the most deprived sections of society. She said the scheme had played a crucial role in curbing distress migration, guaranteeing a legal right to employment and empowering gram panchayats by decentralising decision-making.
According to Gandhi, MGNREGA was a concrete move towards realising Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj. She alleged that the government had recently “run a bulldozer” over the scheme by removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name and altering its structure without consultation, deliberation or parliamentary consensus. She further claimed that under the new law, decisions regarding employment would be centralised in Delhi, disregarding local realities and grassroots needs.
Reiterating the Congress’ role in conceptualising and implementing MGNREGA, Gandhi stressed that the law was never party-specific but was rooted in national and public interest. She warned that diluting the scheme would have severe consequences for farmers, labourers and landless households across rural India.
“I fought to secure the right to employment for the poor twenty years ago, and I remain committed to fighting this black law today,” Gandhi said, asserting that Congress leaders and workers would remain united in opposing the changes.
Her remarks come in the wake of Parliament passing the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G Bill, which seeks to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA. The legislation, which guarantees 125 days of rural wage employment annually, was cleared by both Houses amid strong protests from the Opposition.
While Opposition parties criticised the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name and accused the Centre of shifting the financial burden onto states, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defended the bill, saying the new law was aimed at addressing shortcomings in the earlier scheme.
