Kolkata: After the Centre proposed replacing the MGNREGA with a new framework under the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB–G RAM G Bill, 2025, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday alleged that it was aimed at erasing Mahatma Gandhi from history.
“Those who revere Gandhi’s assassin will, inevitably, try to erase Mahatma Gandhi from history itself,” the TMC alleged.
According to the draft Bill, the proposed legislation seeks to establish a “rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047”, with a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment per financial year for every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
The Bill also proposes changes to the administrative structure of the programme. While MGNREGA is implemented directly by the Union rural development ministry, the new law mandates the constitution of a State Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Council in every state to monitor and review implementation.
Condemning the move, TMC MP Ritabrata Banerjee said: “India will not allow its soul to be edited out.”
He added: “Those who revere Gandhi’s assassin will, inevitably, try to erase Mahatma Gandhi from history itself.”
Banerjee further said that the BJP wanted to remove the title ‘Mahatma’, bestowed by Rabindranath Tagore, from the MGNREGA scheme. “This is not an administrative tweak; it is a sinister attempt to rewrite history, distort national memory, and attack the moral foundations of India,” he said.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said that it was initially stated that the scheme would be renamed “Pujya Bapu Gramin Rojgar Yojana”, but it now appeared that the Centre was attempting to remove Gandhi’s name from the project altogether. He alleged that the Centre was inserting the word “Ram” instead.