BJP allies flag concerns as Oppn attacks govt over G Ram G Bill

The Union government on Wednesday backed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or GRAM-G Bill in the Lok Sabha even as two National Democratic Alliance members flagged some issues and the Opposition mounted a sharp attack on the proposed law.

- HT Correspondent

The new scheme proposes to provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work. It seeks to replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme that was a showpiece of the previous United Progressive Alliance administration.

The Bharatiya Janata Party argued that the title reflects Gandhian ideals rather than diluting them. Moving the bill for consideration and passage, Union agriculture and farmers welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "This bill is for the development of villages, to achieve a developed India. It is a legislation to achieve Gandhiji's objective of a self-reliant village." The government maintained that the proposed framework seeks to modernise rural employment while aligning it with the "larger vision of Viksit Bharat."

Telugu Desam Party MP Lavu Sri Krishna flagged the financial implications of shifting the scheme from a fully centrally funded model to a 60:40 costsharing arrangement between the Centre and states. The bill proposes that the financial liability will be shared between the Centre and the state governments in a 90:10 proportion for northeastern and Himalayan states, and 60:40 proportion for all other states and Union territories with a legislature. For UTs without a legislature, the whole cost will be borne by the Centre.