TMC terms MGNREGA rename plan ‘an insult to Mahatma Gandhi’
Times of India | 16 December 2025
Kolkata: Trinamool on Monday criticized the Union govt's proposed bill that seeks to replace the existing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with a new rural employment law called The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–G RAM G) Bill, 2025. Bengal's party in office termed it yet another example of trying to erase the names of the founders of modern India, even as attempts were made to rename the scheme in the name of Ram.
TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien termed the move "an insult to Mahatma Gandhi". "But then, are you surprised! These are the same people who hero-worshipped the man who killed Mahatma Gandhi. They want to insult Mahatma Gandhi and remove him from history," he said.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh voiced his concerns in a post on X: "Is the Modi govt completely erasing Mahatma Gandhi's name? The new bill doesn't even include ‘Pujya Bapu'. They've subtly included the name ‘Ram'."
There would be protests if Gandhi's name was entirely removed in this manner, Ghosh warned.
Speaking at a presser later, Ghosh said this was "an assault on Gandhi's philosophy and ideals by BJP". "For the past few days, it was clear that the Union govt planned to delete Mahatma from the scheme's name. Why delete the name given by Rabindranath Tagore? Now, ‘Pujya Bapu' is gone too. Instead, it's called RAM G. What Ram is this? If it is Lord Ram, we will worship him. But why insult Mahatma Gandhi? We will protest both inside and outside Parliament. They are enemies of Gandhi; they worship his killers," he said.
The issue of renaming the 100-day rural job scheme came to light last week. During the parliamentary session, it was reported that the scheme would be renamed from ‘Mahatma Gandhi' to ‘Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Guarantee'. Additionally, the number of workdays would be increased from 100 to 125 days. A related bill was even set to be introduced in Parliament on Monday.
However, upon reviewing the list of four bills to be presented that day, it was noted that the scheme's name was listed as ‘The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Rural)' with the note ‘VB-G RAM G Bill 2025' beside it.