Govt wants to remove Mahatma Gandhi's memory: Karti on new MGNREGA bill

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram slammed the govt's new Viksit Bharat - G RAM G Bill, which replaces MGNREGA, accusing the BJP of trying to erase Mahatma Gandhi's memory. Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defended the bill and hit back at the opposition.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Thursday criticised the government over the passage of Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 in the Lower House and said that the BJP government wants to remove the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking to ANI, Chidambaram said, "It is a tragic day in our country. The MGNREGA was a program on which many people depended for their livelihood. This is a revisionist government which wants to remove the memory of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, by coming up with a bizarre name, VB G RAM G. They are not only revisionist but also anti-poor and anti-marginalised. We will take this message to the people of India."

Chidambaram also took a swipe at the government over environmental concerns, remarking, "Pollution, pollution, no solution -- that seems to be the situation," he added.

Lok Sabha passes bill replacing MGNREGA

The Lok Sabha has passed the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): Viksit Bharat - G RAM G Bill 2025. The legislation will replace the twenty-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.

Union Minister slams Opposition's 'murder of Bapu's ideals'

Union Agricultural Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday slammed the Congress over the ruckus in Parliament and tearing a copy of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, stating that the INDIA bloc MPs undermined the integrity of democracy.

Addressing a press conference after the Lok Sabha passed the VB-G RAM-G Bill amid uproar from the Opposition, Shivraj Chouhan criticised the INDIA bloc MPs' behaviour during his address in the Lower House, while backing the legislation, which replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The Union Minister termed the alleged tearing of the Bill and MPs getting onto the tables as "murder of Bapu's ideals."

Prior to the passage, the Opposition MPs had demanded that the Bill be sent to a Standing Committee for further consideration. (ANI)

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