The Congress on Monday (August 10, 2026) criticised the Centre over a sharp decline in employment generation under the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G], which replaced the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and said the new law should be renamed “rozgar chori” (employment theft).
Data from the Union Rural Development Ministry show that the number of person-days generated under the scheme during its first implementing month of July 2026 was 49.94% lower than the number generated under the MGNREGA in the corresponding month last year. A person-day is a unit that measures the amount of work done by one person in a working day.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on X, said the BJP had wielded the “lathi” not only against the youth but also against the country’s labourers.
“Under the Modi government, the MGNREGA was scrapped, stripping millions of families of their ‘right to work’, and in its place, VB-G RAM G was imposed, which wiped out the employment of 50% of labourers. Has the payment of 17,144 crore in pending MGNREGA funds been made to the States?” Mr. Kharge said in an online post in Hindi.
Mr. Kharge also questioned whether any assistance had been provided to drought-affected States. “There is a 26.50% shortfall in sowing for the kharif crop. Does anyone care? Has the Central government taken any steps regarding the funding pattern of VB-G RAM G, on which BJP-ruled States...
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