New Delhi: The Congress on Monday slammed the Modi government over the VB-G RAM G Act, saying the new law is simply "rozgar chori" and already exposing the cost of "destroying" MGNREGA.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP has wielded the 'lathi' not just against the youth, but also against hardworking labourers of the country.
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"Under the Modi government, MGNREGA was scrapped, stripping millions of families of their 'right to work', and in its place, VB GRAM G was imposed, which wiped out the employment of 50% of laborers. Has the payment of Rs 17,144 crore in pending MGNREGA funds been made to the states?" Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
Has any assistance been provided to drought-affected states, Kharge asked.
"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 GRAM G, on which BJP-ruled states had demanded a review? When the country's poor laborers are suffering the most, the Modi government is snatching away their Minimum Economic and Social Security and mocking them," Kharge said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which cited official data to claim that employment generation under the government's re-vamped rural job guarantee programme saw a sharp decline, registering a fall of 49.94 per cent year-on-year in July.
"The first month of the Modi Government's VB-G RAM G is already exposing the cost of destroying MGNREGA," Ramesh said on X.
In July 2026, the first month since the new law was adopted, rural employment generation fell sharply compared to July 2025 when MGNREGA was in operation, the former rural development minister said.
