Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 3 : Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao has strongly criticized the state government over what he described as attempts to politicise the proposed changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) respects Mahatma Gandhi's legacy and opposes misleading narratives around the issue.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, Rao said, "BJP protests the bill proposed by the Telangana government against the renaming of MGNREGA to VB-G RAM G... Only the name of the scheme has changed, not its objective. In fact, better amendments have been made to it."
"Politics should not be played on this. We respect the name of Mahatma Gandhi. The Congress is misleading people and misusing his name to divert attention," Rao said, adding that branding the changes as anti-poor was factually incorrect.
Rao's remarks came after the Telangana Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution expressing concern over the proposed VB-G Ram G 2025 law. The resolution recalled that the MGNREGA was launched in 2005 under the UPA government to provide guaranteed employment to rural households and highlighted its role in supporting Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and women beneficiaries in the state.
The Assembly claimed the proposed changes could dilute the demand-driven nature of the scheme, reduce workdays for rural women, alter the funding pattern from full central assistance to a 60:40 Centre-State ratio, and remove labour-intensive works, adversely impacting marginalised communities.
The Assembly also expressed concern over the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the scheme, saying it dilutes the spirit of Gandhian values. It opposed the mandatory 60-day break during the agricultural season, calling it unjust to landless poor labourers, and called for the scheme to be implemented year-round.
Highlighting that 266 types of works are currently permitted under MGNREGA, the resolution opposed the removal of labour-intensive works such as land development, saying this would adversely affect small and marginal farmers, Dalits and tribals. It required that the existing list of works remain unchanged. Taking all these factors into consideration, the Telangana Assembly resolved that the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Act should be continued in its true spirit to fulfil the aspirations of wage-earning families.