Workers’ organizations, trade unions, and grassroots activists gathered at the Press Club of India to denounce the VB-G RAM G programme.
The mobilization highlights a critical shift in rural employment policy that critics say will strip power from laborers and reduce the social safety net for millions of rural citizens.
During the gathering on June 17, 2024, the groups announced a nationwide protest campaign scheduled for July 1, 2024 [1]. That date marks when the new law is set to come into force and repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, known as MGNREGA [1].
Activists argue the VB-G RAM G bill undermines worker empowerment. The MGNREGA has been in force for two decades [1], providing a legal guarantee for wage employment in rural areas. Opponents of the new legislation say it replaces this established system with a scheme that reduces guaranteed work days and shifts the fiscal burden from the central government to the states [1], [3].
Under the new VB-G RAM G framework, the law guarantees 125 work days per year [2]. Additionally, the programme aims to halt work during 60 days of the harvesting season [2].
Jean Drèze said, "MGNREGA gave workers power, that is what is being taken away" [5].
The protesters maintain that these changes threaten the livelihoods of rural workers, particularly those in states like Jharkhand, who rely on guaranteed labor to survive periods of economic instability [3].
“MGNREGA gave workers power, that is what is being taken away.”
The transition from MGNREGA to the VB-G RAM G programme represents a fundamental change in India's rural labor strategy. By capping guaranteed work days and implementing a mandatory halt during harvest seasons, the government is shifting the employment model from a demand-driven right to a more restricted administrative grant, while simultaneously transferring financial responsibility to state governments.
