‘Respect Gandhian legacy’: Shashi Tharoor terms MGNREGA renaming row ‘unfortunate’

New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday termed the controversy surrounding the proposed renaming of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as “unfortunate”, cautioning against creating a false ideological divide and undermining the Father of the Nation’s legacy.

Reacting to the Centre’s move to introduce a new rural employment law, Tharoor said the principles being invoked were never in conflict.

“The controversy over renaming MGNREGA in the government’s proposed new G-RAM-G Bill is unfortunate. The concept of Gram Swaraj and the ideal of Ram Rajya were never competing forces; they were the twin pillars of Gandhiji’s consciousness,” he said in a post on X.

“Replacing the Mahatma’s name in a scheme for the rural poor ignores this profound symbiosis. His final breath was a testament to ‘Ram’; let us not dishonour his legacy by creating a division where none existed,” Tharoor added.

The remarks come as the Centre prepares to introduce the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha, called G-RAM-G in short.

The proposed legislation seeks to replace the nearly two-decade-old MGNREGA and significantly restructure India’s rural employment framework.

The Congress has strongly criticised any move to rechristen MGNREGA, accusing the government of attempting to dilute Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy. Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the rationale behind a renaming exercise, warning it would lead to avoidable public expenditure.

“From offices to stationery, everything has to be renamed. This is a big and costly process. What is the benefit of doing this unnecessarily?” she asked.

According to the proposed Bill, the guaranteed number of employment days for rural households will be increased from 100 to 125 annually. The new law, formally titled The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, also incorporates AI-based systems for fraud detection and mandates stronger social audit mechanisms, including twice-yearly audits in every Gram Panchayat, aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability.

Officials in the Rural Development Ministry said the legislation is designed not only to generate rural employment but also to directly benefit farmers by ensuring the timely availability of labour and improving agricultural infrastructure through better-coordinated asset creation.

As per the copy of the Bill listed in the supplementary list of business issued on Monday, the G RAM G Bill aims to address structural weaknesses in the existing framework, expand employment opportunities and ensure closer alignment of rural asset creation with national development goals.

IANS