Sonia Gandhi warns against scrapping of MGNREGA

NEW DELHI: Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has warned that the “demolition” of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) will have catastrophic consequences for millions of people across rural India.

In an editorial published in The Hindu titled “The bulldozed demolition of MGNREGA”, the former Congress chief said that the effective “death” of the landmark employment scheme was a collective failure and called on all stakeholders to unite to safeguard citizens’ rights.

Her remarks came a day after Indian President Droupadi Murmu gave assent to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, which replaces MGNREGA and provides for up to 125 days of wage employment for rural workers.

Sonia Gandhi said that MGNREGA had realised Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of “Sarvodaya” — welfare for all — and had translated the constitutional right to work into reality.

She described the scheme’s replacement as being “bulldozed and demolished” without debate, consultation or respect for parliamentary and federal processes.

She alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government dismantled the structure of MGNREGA, calling the new law “nothing but a set of bureaucratic provisions”. Gandhi said the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name was only symbolic, while the real damage lay in ending the rights-based and demand-driven nature of the programme.

According to her, the new law introduces capped budgetary allocations, leaving the number of workdays to the Centre’s discretion rather than people’s needs, effectively ending the year-round employment guarantee.

Gandhi said that one of MGNREGA’s major achievements was increasing the bargaining power of landless rural workers, which helped raise agricultural wages.

She warned that this leverage would be eroded under the new law, at a time when agricultural employment has risen for the first time since India’s independence.

She also criticised the cost-sharing mechanism under the new scheme, saying it shifts a significant financial burden onto states already under economic strain, discouraging them from generating employment.

The Congress leader further rejected the government’s claim that it has enhanced employment guarantees from 100 to 125 days, arguing that the Modi government has weakened MGNREGA over the past decade through stagnant budgets, delayed payments and restrictive technological measures.

Sonia Gandhi said the rollback of the right to work should be seen as part of a broader assault on constitutional and rights-based protections, citing alleged dilution of the Right to Information, Right to Education, Forest Rights Act and land acquisition laws.

She warned that other welfare legislations, including the National Food Security Act, could also face similar threats in the future.