{"id":78942,"date":"2025-12-21T10:50:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T05:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=78942"},"modified":"2025-12-22T15:27:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T09:57:17","slug":"mgnrega-vs-new-rural-employment-bill-why-the-government-is-replacing-mgnrega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/mgnrega-vs-new-rural-employment-bill-why-the-government-is-replacing-mgnrega\/","title":{"rendered":"MGNREGA vs New Rural Employment Bill: Why the Government Is Replacing MGNREGA"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>MGNREGA Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee For Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or <\/span><b>VB-G RAM G Bill<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, just three days after it was circulated, replacing <\/span><b>MGNREGA (2005)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The move drew strong protests from the Opposition and civil society, who accused the government of pushing the legislation without prior consultation or adequate debate.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Origins of MGNREGA: From Civil Society Vision to Law<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2005, Parliament passed a national rural employment guarantee law, which was expanded to all districts by 2008.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After 2009, it was renamed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Role of the National Advisory Council (NAC)<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2004, the National Advisory Council (NAC) brought together civil society leaders, retired officials, and intellectuals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At its very first meetings, Aruna Roy and economist Jean Dr\u00e8ze proposed two landmark ideas: the Right to Information Act and a rural employment guarantee.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The initial MGNREGA draft was prepared swiftly, emerging from the NAC\u2019s August 19, 2004 meeting.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Dilution and Pushback<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill sent to Parliament diluted the NAC\u2019s vision\u2014removing universal coverage, weakening the \u201cguarantee,\u201d and limiting benefits to below-poverty-line families.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This prompted widespread protests by civil society groups, especially the Right to Food Campaign.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Parliamentary Review and Restoration<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The weakened Bill was examined by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The committee recommended restoring most original provisions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government accepted these changes, leading to the Bill\u2019s passage in 2005\u2014cementing MGNREGA as a <\/span><b>rights-based employment guarantee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why MGNREGA Was Unique: Rights, Reach, and Resilience<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MGNREGA guaranteed <\/span><b>100 days<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of paid unskilled work per rural household on demand, making it a legal entitlement rather than a welfare dole.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wages in 2025\u201326 ranged from \u20b9241 to \u20b9400, offering a basic safety net against extreme poverty.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Universal and Non-Targeted Design &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike most schemes, <\/span><b>MGNREGA was universal<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014not restricted by caste, category, or Below Poverty Line status. Anyone willing to work could access it, avoiding exclusion errors tied to disputed poverty metrics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Scale and Inclusion &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About 12.61 crore active workers depend on the scheme.\u00a0 Women account for nearly 58% participation over the past five years, many entering paid work for the first time. SCs and STs form 35% of the workforce, with studies showing up to 30% higher consumption for Dalit and Adivasi households during lean seasons.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Crisis Buffer During COVID-19 &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MGNREGA proved crucial during the pandemic. A survey led by Azim Premji University found that in Karnataka, over 60% of households felt the scheme contributed to village development and stability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Reducing Distress Migration &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoiding migration emerged as the top reason for continuing MGNREGA. A large majority recommended expanding support to 100 days per person, not just per household.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Building Citizenship and Collective Action &#8211; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond incomes, MGNREGA fostered civic engagement and rights awareness, strengthening worker organisation and unionisation in States like Rajasthan and Karnataka\u2014an impact rare among welfare programmes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Government\u2019s Rationale for Introducing a New Rural Employment Bill<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government argues that MGNREGA suffers from serious flaws, citing widespread <\/span><b>corruption<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>misuse of funds<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by State governments, as stated by the Union Rural Development Minister in Parliament.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, critics note that these were largely implementation challenges, not design failures.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MGNREGA already had strong safeguards, including social audits and a transparent IT-based system tracking work demand, execution, and wage payments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>How the New Bill Differs from MGNREGA<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>From Demand-Driven to Supply-Driven<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; MGNREGA guaranteed work on demand. The new Bill shifts to a supply-driven model, with employment capped by a fixed Union budget and provided only in Centre-notified rural areas, ending the scheme\u2019s universal character.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Funding Pattern and State Burden<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; While MGNREGA effectively operated on a 90:10 Centre\u2013State cost share, the new Bill raises States\u2019 burden. Funding will be 60:40 for most States, and 90:10 for northeastern and Himalayan States, increasing fiscal pressure on State governments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>More Days, Less Autonomy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; The guaranteed workdays rise from 100 to 125, but the Centre gains greater control\u2014deciding State-wise allocations using unspecified parameters and notifying eligible rural areas each year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Selective Coverage and Blackout Periods<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Unlike MGNREGA\u2019s universal access, implementation will be selective. The Bill also allows blackout periods during peak agricultural seasons, temporarily suspending work to ensure farm labour availability\u2014another major departure from the original Act.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/why-does-the-govt-want-to-replace-mgnrega-explained\/article70420658.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The government plans to replace MGNREGA with the VB-G RAM G Bill. Understand the reasons, key differences, funding changes, and concerns over rural employment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":79054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,3107,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-78942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-mgnrega","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}