CENTRAL CONTROL, DEVOLVED DUTY

THE repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's NDA government and its replacement with the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (GRAM G) Act is not merely a policy change.

- SIDDARAMAIAH

It strikes at the constitutional promise of the right to work and undermines India's federal structure. A law that protected the livelihoods of crores of rural families for nearly two decades has been dismantled and replaced without consultation with state governments, and without the scrutiny such a far-reaching decision demanded. This manner of lawmaking reflects a disregard for common people and cooperative federalism that has come to define the Modi government's 11 years in power.

MGNREGA was one of independent India's most important pro-people legislations. Introduced in 2005 by Manmohan Singh’s UPA government, it was shaped through wide public consultations, parliamentary debates and standing committee scrutiny before being passed unanimously by both Houses of parliament. It gave real meaning to Article 41 of the Constitution by transforming employment from charity into a legal right. The law empowered rural workers, reduced distress migration and enabled large-scale participation of women. During the Covid pandemic, when livelihoods collapsed nationwide, MGNREGA became the rural poor's last line of defence against hunger and debt, and spared the Union government a far deeper humanitarian and global embarrassment.

What made MGNREGA fundamentally different from earlier schemes was its demand-based nature. Any rural household could seek work locally and the government was legally bound to provide employment within a fixed time, failing which compensation was payable. There was no prefixed cap decided in Delhi; funds were meant to follow people’s demand for work. This legal obligation gave MGNREGA its strength and credibility.