P Chidambaram Calls MGNREGA Renaming "Second Assassination of Gandhi": Analysis of Rural Employment Bill Changes

"They have vilified Nehru for years and now they are targeting Mahatma Gandhi," stated Chidambaram.

New Delhi:

Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram has declared that renaming the MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act) represents a "second assassination" of the Father of the Nation. The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural) Bill, intended to rename the flagship program originally introduced by the UPA government, was presented in the Lok Sabha this evening amid prolonged protests from the Congress party, which is outraged by the removal of Gandhi's name.

In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Chidambaram, who announced the program in the 2004 budget, remarked, "After years of vilifying Jawaharlal Nehru, they are now targeting Mahatma Gandhi."

"Their aim is to make Mahatma Gandhi fade from the memory of the Indian people. They want children to remain unaware about Mahatma Gandhi. They don't want people to speak Mahatma Gandhi's name. They are attempting to erase Mahatma Gandhi from the nation's collective memory."

The Congress party has strongly objected since the government announced the new name of the bill, which differs significantly from the initially expected name of Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for the revamped program.

Additional Opposition parties, including Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, have also firmly opposed the renaming.

'Hindi Imposition'

Chidambaram also addressed the North-South, Hindi-English divide that has emerged as another contentious issue in the name change debate. The G Ram G is among numerous bills that now have Hindi names, breaking from the tradition of providing both Hindi and English names for each bill.

Challenging the government's argument that using Hindi aims to eliminate colonial influence, Chidambaram emphasized that "the Constitution of India is written in English and explicitly states that both Hindi and English will serve as the official languages of India."

He highlighted that nearly 50 to 55 percent of India's population neither speaks nor writes Hindi, a fundamental reality that cannot be disregarded. Illustrating the practical challenges this creates, Chidambaram explained that previously, those unfamiliar with Hindi could access bills through their English titles. However, this is now impossible since the bills lack English names, which he described as disrespectful to non-Hindi speaking citizens.

Will The New Bill Work?

Chidambaram argued that the revised version of MGNREGA, with its substantially modified provisions, "completely destroys" the "soul and spirit" of the original program.

"When I first announced the program in the 2004-2005 budget, I quoted Dr. Manmohan Singh saying that the primary responsibility for public funds is toward the poor. The central concept was guaranteeing livelihood security," he explained.

However, he contended that the new bill eliminates all three aspects of the original objective.

"It eliminates the guarantee. It eliminates livelihood. It eliminates security. Why call it a guarantee bill when there is no actual guarantee? It fails to ensure livelihood for the rural poor. It provides absolutely no security whatsoever. Therefore, this bill completely contradicts what we originally envisioned in 2004-2005 and what evolved over the past 20 years," he added.

Differences In Two bills

Under MGNREGA, the government guarantees 100 days of employment in rural areas and pays unemployment allowance when work cannot be provided. The new Bill proposes increasing the guarantee to 125 days while maintaining the other two conditions.

However, under the new bill, employment will be generated through pre-approved plans, which critics argue shifts the program's focus away from addressing people's needs. Previously, workers could approach gram panchayats when they needed work; now they will only receive work if it's available.

The new bill also restricts work to four categories: water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related assets, and climate resilience. This limits the scope of work, which was previously determined by panchayats according to local requirements.