“If India Can Be Called Vishwaguru, It Is Because Of NREGA”: Activists Protest New Bill

At a press conference in Delhi on December 17, activists and researchers criticised the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, introduced in Parliament to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Economists, NREGA workers, activists and farm union representatives argued that it diluted the legal right to work, turning it into a discretionary government scheme.

Kamla Devi, a widow from Rajasthan’s Beawar district who has worked under NREGA for 18 years, said the programme remained her only dependable source of income.

Economist Prabhat Patnaik said the promise of 125 days of work was neither universal nor guaranteed under the new framework.

Political activist Yogendra Yadav said the government had ignored the Standing Committee’s report from earlier this financial year, rejecting its recommendations and, in effect, undermining parliamentary scrutiny.

Professor Jayati Ghosh warned that the bill converts a right into a “gift”, centralising welfare and weakening federalism by dismantling NREGA’s locally planned and audited structure.

B Venkat, member of an agriculture union dismissed claims that NREGA hurts farmers by reducing labour availability, noting that the work is largely done in the agricultural off-season by Dalit, Adivasi and OBC workers.

Economist and social activist Jean Drèze described NREGA as one of India’s most important social achievements. “If there is any law because of which India can be called a Vishwaguru, it is NREGA,” he said.