Opposition protests G RAM G Bill, accuses govt of insulting Gandhi

Several opposition MPs on Thursday took out a protest march inside the Parliament House complex against the G RAM G bill and demanded its withdrawal, as Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge vowed to fight the government's move in Parliament and in the streets. Behind a huge banner of 'Mahatma Gandhi NREGA', they marched from the Gandhi statue at Prerna Sthal to Makar Dwar, raising slogans against the government. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, DMK's K Kanhimozhi, TR Ballu, A Raja, IUML's ET Mohammed Basheer, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Arvind Sawant and RSP's N K Premchandran, among others, participated in the protest. "The Modi government has not only insulted the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, but has also crushed the right to work, which was instrumental in bringing about socio-economic transformation in India's villages," Kharge said in a post on X in Hindi after the protest. "Against this tyranny of the ruling dictatorial government, we will fight from Parliament to the streets," Kharge said.

Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi joined the protesting MPs and participated in the demonstrations at Makar Dwar. Speaking to reporters, Venugopal said, "Today, Parliament is witnessing the murder of democracy. By removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi from NREGA they are trying to kill the democratic values as well as the ideology of the Father of the Nation." The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill to replace the UPA-era MGNREGA is being debated in Parliament.bThe Opposition has been strongly opposing the Bill, accusing the government of insulting Mahatma Gandhi and diluting the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005. According to the bill, it will provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work. Within six months from the date of commencement of the VB-G RAM G Act, states will have to make a scheme consistent with the provisions of the new law.