‘Rebuilt, Not Bulldozed’: Think Tank Chief Rebuts Congress Criticism of VB-G RAM G Act

New Delhi: The political sparring over the newly enacted Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act has sharpened, with BlueKraft Digital Foundation CEO Akhilesh Mishra issuing a point-by-point rebuttal to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s criticism of the legislation.

Ramesh had shared an article by Sonia Gandhi alleging that the Centre had “bulldozed” the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to make way for the new law. Countering the charge, Mishra said the Congress response was rooted in nostalgia and overlooked both the failures of MGNREGA’s implementation and the evolving realities of rural India.

In a detailed post on X, Mishra argued that the employment guarantee framework has been strengthened, not dismantled. He said the statutory entitlement under the new Act has been expanded from 100 days to 125 days, directly contradicting claims of dilution. According to him, the reform addresses outdated and inefficient structures rather than the principle of employment security itself.

“What has changed is not the idea of rural protection, but a two-decade-old system that had become dysfunctional, prone to leakages, and disconnected from present-day rural needs,” Mishra said.

Citing official data, he noted that the legal “right to work” under the earlier regime often remained theoretical. In recent years, he said, barely 7.6 per cent of households were able to complete even 100 days of work, indicating a serious gap between intent and outcomes.

Mishra also highlighted instances of corruption and administrative breakdowns. He claimed that misappropriation of funds amounting to Rs 193 crore was reported in a single year across several states, alleging that many of these cases involved states governed by the INDI Alliance. He referred to investigations in West Bengal, where audits across 19 districts reportedly uncovered non-existent projects, fake records, and widespread violations, leading to a freeze on funds.

According to Mishra, such findings reflected systemic failure rather than political targeting. He argued that Congress was unwilling to acknowledge the transformation in rural India because it challenged its long-standing ideological narrative.

Pointing to socio-economic data, Mishra said rural poverty has fallen sharply—from 25.7 per cent in 2011–12 to below 5 per cent today—while wages, consumption, and non-farm employment opportunities have improved. He added that demand for MGNREGA work has declined as better livelihood options have emerged, citing a 32 per cent drop in demand in November 2025 and a steep fall in participation between June and October the same year.

Mishra said the VB-G RAM G Act realigns public employment with national and local development goals. The new framework, he explained, links employment generation to durable assets and priority sectors such as water conservation, rural infrastructure, livelihood-based projects, and climate-resilient works.

He stressed that decentralised planning has been retained, with Gram Panchayats continuing to play a central role, but now supported by technological integration through GIS mapping and the PM Gati Shakti platform to ensure better asset creation and connectivity.

On concerns over payment delays and leakages, Mishra said digital and biometric systems have made transfers nearly fully direct, significantly reducing scope for corruption. He also dismissed criticism over the provision related to work breaks, clarifying that the much-debated 60-day pause is cumulative rather than continuous and is designed to protect agricultural labour availability during critical farming seasons.

“Workers still receive 125 days of guaranteed work across the rest of the year,” he said, adding that the design balances rural employment with agricultural needs and price stability.

Mishra concluded that the opposition to the law stems more from ideological discomfort than concern for workers. He said the earlier model fostered long-term dependency, while the new framework aims to transition rural households from subsistence wages to sustainable and productive prosperity.

Summing up the reform, he said the VB-G RAM G Act represents a shift toward combining rights with accountability, employment with asset creation, and guarantees with growth—changes he said are necessary to meet the demands of a transformed rural economy.

With inputs from IANS