LS Passes G RAM G Bill Amid Opposition Uproar

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, or VB-G RAM G, which seeks to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA with a new initiative that guarantees rural jobs for 125 days every year amid protests by the Opposition. The bill was cleared amid tearing of papers by the Opposition members who accused the government of destroying the rural economy and ignoring the principles of Mahatma Gandhi.

After the bill to replace MGNREGA was passed by the Lok Sabha, the government introduced the VB-G RAM G Bill in the Rajya Sabha amid protests from non-NDA parties demanding parliamentary committee scrutiny.

Immediately after the nuclear bill was passed by the House, deputy Chairman Harivansh called Union rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to introduce the VB-G RAM G Bill. The move triggered an uproar from the Opposition, who asked why the name of the proposed legislation was being changed and Mahatma Gandhi's name removed from it.

Defending the bill in the Lok Sabha, Mr Chouhan asserted that MGNREGA has outlived its utility and the changes are necessary to fix shortcomings in the scheme. He also slammed the Opposition for its "disgraceful" behaviour in Parliament during the debate on the rural employment guarantee bill and equated the acts of the Congress and the INDIA bloc MPs with "goondaraj".

Responding to the eight-hour discussion on the bill, Mr Chouhan lashed out at the Congress, claiming that the Opposition party has "killed" the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi many times over and uses his name to further political gains.

Mr Chouhan said that during the UPA rule, MGNREGA was riddled with corruption and the expected amount of funds was not spent on procurement of material for designated jobs.

"Funds were not allotted to the states as expected. MGNREGA was riddled with problems. As per the Act, 60 per cent of the funds were to be spent on labour and 40 per cent on material. But only 26 per cent was spent on material and funds were siphoned off. Corruption was rampant under MGNREGA," he said.

The Union minister said that the G RAM G bill was brought after extensive deliberations, as it was felt that an amount to the tune of ₹10-11-lakh crores should not be spent on merely paying wages but be used for creating permanent assets.

"We have made provisions to improve employment. On the other hand, this vast amount will be used to build fully developed villages, which has been the goal of the Modi government," Mr Chouhan said, adding that the G RAM G initiative will focus on water security by creating lakes, micro-irrigation channels, developing core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure and special works to mitigate extreme weather events.

The Union minister said all the assets created will be aggregated to the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack.

At the start of the session, Congress member K.C. Venugopal urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the bill to a parliamentary committee for threadbare examination.

Mr Birla turned down the demand, saying an eight-hour debate had taken place on the bill and 98 members across party lines had spoken at length till past midnight on Wednesday night.

As Opposition members raised slogans and tore copies of the bill, Mr Chouhan hit out at the Congress for "insulting" Mahatma Gandhi and "killing" his ideals time and again.

"The Opposition is murdering Bapu's ideals. I listened to the honourable members until 1.30 am at night. Just having your say and not listening to the views of others too is violence," the rural development minister said and asserted that the Modi government is ensuring that the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi are upheld through various initiatives taken by it.

Listing out government schemes for the welfare of the poor, Mr Chouhan said, "The Congress killed the ideals of Bapu. The NDA ensured Bapu lives in pucca houses built under the PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, Ayushman Bharat."

"Those in the Opposition who cry in the name of Gandhi Ji should remember that Gandhi Ji also said now that freedom has been achieved, the Congress should be dissolved. In its place, a Lok Sevak Sangh should be formed. But Nehru Ji did not dissolve the Congress to cling to power and exploit the freedom movement," Mr Chouhan said.

The Opposition MPs trooped to the well of the House, raising slogans against the government for dropping Mahatma Gandhi's name from the rural jobs initiative and tearing copies of the G RAM G bill and flinging them towards the Chair.

After the debate, the Lok Sabha passed the G RAM G Bill by a voice vote amid uproar by the Opposition. The Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha for the day after the bill was passed.

Later, addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Mr Chouhan asked why the Opposition was objecting to the name of the legislation. "What was the fuss about the name of the bill? The Opposition is only concerned about the name, but we are more focused on the work. I strongly condemn the disgraceful behaviour of the Congress and INDIA bloc MPs in Parliament. Through their behaviour, the Opposition disgraced democracy, tore parliamentary traditions to shreds and turned democracy into goondaraj," he said.

Mr Chouhan said that the conduct of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha undermined democracy and parliamentary decorum, and they have thoroughly disregarded the spirit of democracy.