Renaming MGNREGA disrespects Gandhi and Ram, says Shashi Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday slammed the central government for the proposal to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), to Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill 2025, popularly known as VB-G RAM B Bill. Tharoor claimed that attempting to include "Ram" while removing Mahatma Gandhi's name is a disrespect to both names. Referencing an iconic Kishore Kumar song from the 1970s titled 'Ram ka Naam Badnam Na Karo', Tharoor opposed the inclusion of multiple languages in the bill (Hindi and English), while the Constitution calls for only one language to be used.

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'Ram Ka Naam Badnaam Kar Rahe Hai'

"For Mahatma Gandhi, Gram Swaraj and Ram Rajya ek hi hai, toh isme Mahatma Gandhi ka naam hatana theek nahi tha, aur hatane ke baad yeh constitution ke viroodh hai, strictly speaking, aur eske baad G Ram G kehena. Ram ka naam toh bahut dusre context mein istemaal kar sakenge. Magar Mahatma Gandhi ka naam hatane ke liye, islliye mene kaha ki who Ram ka naam badnaam kar rahe hai. (The Bill's name is not right because 2 languages have been used while one language should be used according to the constitution. Removing Mahatma Gandhi's name is not good in itself, but they used multiple languages to include 'RAM' in it. This is not a serious matter. Mahatma Gandhi used to speak about Ram Rajya and the vision of Ram Rajya and Gram Swaraj was one for him. Ram Rajya will prevail in our country when Gram Swaraj is there... We can use the name of Lord Ram in various other contexts, but removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi? This is why I said don't insult the name of Lord Ram, but they did the same)" Tharoor said. He further pointed out that the Central government has unnecessarily added multiple words in different languages. "By using two languages, they have used the words Guarantee, Rozgar (employment), and Ajeevika (livelihood) and then in the middle, ' and' is also included, so they wanted to include 'G RAM G' in this," he said.

Financial Burden on States

Apart from language usage, Tharoor also raised part of the employment guarantee being shifted to the states too, adding that multiple states, like Kerala, are "already broke," and if states can't make the payment, then unemployment will increase. "Many states don't have the money to pay 40% of the wages, as per new mandates. In Kerala, the government is already broke, which means unemployment will increase if there is no money. This means the government did not think well about this and there should be a good discussion about it in the Parliament," he said.

'Attempt to Kill MGNREGA': Other Leaders Join In

Multiple other Congress leaders, KC Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi, criticised the proposed legislation, claiming that the Central government is trying to kill rural employment. "The scheme is going to be changed deliberately by the Union government. Yesterday in BAC we clearly said that this is one of the most important legislation, which is going to kill MGNREGA, kill rural employment. They are changing the name of Mahatma Gandhi, that is the RSS agenda. Their ideology killed Mahatma Gandhi, now they want to remove Mahatma Gandhi name from everywhere," Venugopal told reporters outside Parliament.

Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also raised similar concerns, saying that the government appeared to be "obsessed" with changing names, a move that she claimed leads to unnecessary expenditure. She stressed that the employment scheme carries the name of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, and said removing or altering it amounts to disrespect. "This scheme is named after Mahatma Gandhi. He is the Father of the Nation and his name should not be insulted," she said.

Speaking during the protest against the proposed renaming of MGNREGA, Vadra said the government appeared to be "obsessed" with changing names, a move that she claimed leads to unnecessary expenditure. She stressed that the employment scheme carries the name of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, and said removing or altering it amounts to disrespect. (ANI)