5 months ago
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Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan connected Sunday (December 21, 2025) said the Union authorities has "practically ended" the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by replacing it with Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill.
Not lone has the sanction been changed, the full strategy itself has been altered, the elder advocator said portion talking to PTI astatine Latur.
The VB-G RAM G Bill was passed by Parliament successful the precocious concluded Winter league amid beardown protests by the absorption implicit the removal of Mahatma Gandhi's sanction and the fiscal load being enactment connected States.
"MGNREGA was a right-driven scheme, wherever each agrarian household had the cardinal close to enactment for astatine slightest 100 days astatine minimum wages and would person wealth from the government. But present the Union authorities has removed that. The authorities has said it volition present beryllium budget-driven," Mr. Bhushan said.
Also Read | Change for the worse: On MGNREGA to VB-G RAM G
"Now the authorities says they volition determine what percent they volition supply and what percent the State volition provide. So, they person efficaciously ended the scheme," helium added.
He asserted that earlier too, the authorities had imposed restrictions connected it successful assorted ways.
"Like successful (West) Bengal, they didn't supply wealth for MGNREGA for respective years. So, they wanted to extremity it, and now, successful a ineligible sense, they person practically ended the scheme," the elder lawyer claimed.
He besides raised alarm implicit the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and the sedition proviso nether the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, saying that "many limitations are being imposed" done specified moves.
"And adjacent otherwise, we are seeing that radical who talk against the authorities are being implicated nether UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967], PMLA [Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002], oregon successful immoderate mode oregon another. They (Union government) are trying their champion to extremity state of speech, but they haven't afloat succeeded yet," helium asserted.
