Imphal: Opposition Congress in Manipur Monday strongly criticised the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi from the rural employment act.
After the Parliament approved the Viksit Bharat, Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, President Droupadi Murmu Sunday gave her assent to the legislation.
Former Manipur Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh strongly criticised the BJP-led NDA government for removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi from the new rural employment act, amending the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005.
Former three-term Chief Minister (2002-2017) Singh, told the media that dropping Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the flagship rural employment programme amounts to an insult to the Father of the Nation.
He questioned the rationale behind replacing Mahatma Gandhi’s name with a different nomenclature, asserting that there was no justification for removing the name of the Father of the Nation from a welfare scheme closely associated with his ideals.
The former Chief Minister said the Congress party condemns the move in the strongest terms. While acknowledging that amendments aimed at improving welfare, including an increase in the guaranteed number of employment days, could be considered acceptable, Ibobi Singh said several aspects of the new legislation remain unclear.
He also criticised the passage of the bill without adequate debate, stating that such an approach undermines the parliamentary system. State Congress President Keisham Meghachandra Singh said that apart from the humiliation of the Father of the Nation in Parliament, the amended Act lacks clarity on several crucial provisions.
He pointed out that while MGNREGA is a rights-based law under which villagers can seek legal remedy, such provisions are absent in the new legislation.
By passing the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, the government has, in effect, issued the “death certificate” of MGNREGA, a historic lifeline for rural India.
“The Congress party is deeply unhappy and strongly opposed to this move, as it strikes at the very foundation of a landmark rights-based legislation that guarantees employment, dignity and livelihood security to millions of rural households. Removing the name of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ from the scheme is a direct insult to the legacy of the Father of the Nation, whose philosophy of Sarvodaya and social justice inspired this historic law,” Meghachandra Singh told the media.
He said that the new Act weakens the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee of employment, thereby depriving rural workers of their legally enforceable right to work and reducing employment to the mercy of budgetary allocations.
“We express serious concern over the changed funding pattern. Shifting a greater financial burden onto states will severely weaken poorer and resource-constrained states, including Manipur, and threaten rural livelihood security.
Furthermore, the new framework undermines the spirit of federalism by centralising control and reducing the autonomy of states and local self-governing institutions,” the state Congress chief stated.
He said that the Congress party will continue to stand firmly with rural workers, farmers and the poor, and will strongly oppose any attempt to dilute their hard-won rights.
The press conference was attended by Congress Working Committee member Gaikhangam Gangmei and other Congress legislators and party leaders.
