Congress to Take Up G RAM G Bill and Proposed ‘Repeal’ of MGNREGA at Key Meet on December 27

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, is set to meet on December 27 to discuss the government’s move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with new legislation, along with the prevailing political situation in the country, party sources said on Thursday.

This will be the first CWC meeting since the party’s poor performance in the recent Bihar assembly elections, making it a crucial internal review exercise for the opposition party.

The meeting also assumes added political importance as the Congress is expected to chalk out its broad strategy for the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal, all scheduled in the first half of 2026.

Party leaders said the Congress intends to turn the government’s move to replace the MGNREGA into a major political issue and use it as a rallying point to mobilise public opinion against the ruling dispensation.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has sharply criticised the proposed legislation, officially titled the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, also known as the VB-G RAM G Bill.

Kharge said the move goes far beyond a change of name and structure. “This is not rebranding MGNREGA. This is the systematic murder of the world’s largest employment scheme,” he said, accusing the government of undermining the rights of rural workers.

The Congress chief warned that the party would launch a nationwide agitation against the law, alleging that the government was effectively snatching away the guaranteed right to work from millions of rural households.

“There will be a countrywide movement against this decision,” Kharge asserted, adding that employment security in rural India was being deliberately weakened.

The Lok Sabha passed the G RAM G Bill on Thursday, clearing the way for the replacement of MGNREGA, a flagship social welfare programme introduced by the UPA government in 2005.

The opposition has mounted strong resistance to the new law, alleging that it dilutes the core principles of MGNREGA, weakens its legal guarantees, and disrespects the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi by removing his name from the scheme.

Under the new legislation, every rural household whose adult members are willing to undertake unskilled manual labour will be entitled to a statutory guarantee of 125 days of paid employment in a financial year.

However, Congress leaders argue that the fine print of the law places greater discretion in the hands of the states and the Centre, potentially weakening accountability mechanisms that were central to MGNREGA.

As per the provisions of the VB-G RAM G Act, state governments will be required to formulate and notify employment plans in accordance with the new law within six months of its commencement.

With rural distress, unemployment, and social welfare emerging as key political flashpoints ahead of the 2026 elections, the Congress is expected to sharpen its attack on the government over what it calls the dismantling of one of India’s most significant social security programmes.