Stalin Asks AIADMK to Clarify its Stand on New Rural Employment Bill

Stalin sought to know the official stance of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on the Centre's move to repeal the employment guarantee scheme, MGNREGA, named after Mahatma Gandhi.

The DMK has been opposing the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, (VBGRAMG), which seeks to repeal the MGNREGA.

"Does he (Palaniswami), who sports a green shawl and blatantly betrays farmers, not see them again? What is the opposition AIADMK's stand on the VBGRAMG that deals a blow to the rural poor," the CM asked in a post on 'X.'

He sought to know if Palaniswami will support the latest move of the Centre like he had backed the three erstwhile farm laws and the CAA.

"In MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), they have removed the name of Gandhiji and named it (the new bill) in Hindi. Why hesitate to oppose this, despite bearing Anna (former Chief Minister C N Annadurai), who opposed Hindi, in your party's name," Stalin, also the ruling DMK chief, asked in the post.

All the conditions for the scheme were under the control of the central government, though the funding was made by the state government.

"Does the AIADMK accept this without any objection. Would your (late) leader J Jayalalithaa have agreed to this," Stalin asked.

In an apparent reference to the MGNREGA, he alleged that the "100-day work scheme" faced the danger of being stopped in Tamil Nadu "as a punishment for the achievement in eradicating poverty."

The people of Tamil Nadu wanted to know if the AIADMK would back the Centre's move again, he said.

Former ally of the BJP, O Panneerselvam heading the AIADMK Workers Rights Retrieval Committee urged the Centre to roll back the VBGRAMG Bill as it would impose additional financial burden on states and also affect the rural poor. Hence, the bill should be sent to a joint parliamentary committee for a review, he said.

"As per the provisions under the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, the allocation to states in each financial year will be determined by the Centre subject to the limits fixed by it," Panneerselvam, a former Chief Minister said in a statement here.

Apart from reducing the central assistance for this scheme to 60 per cent from 100 per cent, leaving the states to bear the remaining 40 per cent funds, the bill, if implemented in the present form, will force agricultural labourers to undertake work for low wages, he claimed.

"In short, the bill currently before the Parliament will reduce the number of job seekers and reduce the wages of agricultural workers during the agricultural season and will also impose an additional financial burden on state governments," Panneerselvam said and reminded that the MGNREGA was created and was currently operational to improve the quality of life of the rural poor in the country by providing them one hundred days of employment in a financial year.