Centre Fails to Introduce Bill to Repeal MGNREGA

New Delhi: The government on Monday failed to introduce a Bill that sought to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and replace it with a proposed law — The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB G RAM G) Bill, 2025 — after facing stiff opposition.

The VB G RAM G Bill was listed in the Lok Sabha in the supplementary list of business issued on Monday. It was to be introduced by rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

“Why is Mahatma Gandhi's name being removed? Mahatma Gandhi is considered the tallest leader not just in the country but in the world. So (in) removing his name, I really don't understand what the objective is. What is their intention,” said Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, objecting to the measure.

“Whenever the name of a scheme is changed, there are so many changes that have to be made in offices, stationery... for which money is spent. So, what is the benefit? Why is it being done?” she asked.

The Bill aims at establishing a “rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047” by providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.

However, the government introduced three new Bills in the Lok Sabha, including one that seeks to open up the tightly-controlled civil nuclear sector to private players and another that seeks to set up an overarching higher education commission.

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill seeks to facilitate universities and higher educational institutions to become independent and self-governing, with a transparent system of accreditation and autonomy. The government expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee.

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Bill amid din over the issue of alleged threatening slogans raised at a Congress rally on Sunday against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the education ministry, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.

At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Another legislation, the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill seeks to open the civil nuclear power sector for private participation and overhaul the liability regime.

The SHANTI Bill, introduced by the minister of state in the PMO Jitendra Singh, seeks to repeal the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.

“The Bill seeks to provide for a pragmatic civil liability regime for nuclear damage and to confer statutory status on the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board,” Singh said.

The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2025 was introduced by law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to repeal 71 laws that have outlived their utility in the statute books. Of the 71 laws, 65 are amendments to principal Acts, and six are principal laws.

Opposition members Manish Tewari, N.K. Premachandran, Saugata Roy, and Jothimani opposed the Bill, contending that it was circulated late and that they had little opportunity to study the draft legislation.