New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Friday, hit out at the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi for what it called “spreading misinformation” on the new rural job employment scheme and asked the Congress leader to educate himself about Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission – Gramin (VB-G RAM G).
Spearheading the BJP’s offensive against Rahul Gandhi, a day after the Bill was passed by Parliament, party’s Information Technology Cell Chief Amit Malviya, in a post on social media platform X, said, “VB-G RAM-G is a proposed alternative that aims to correct… structural flaws while preserving the core objective of rural empowerment.”
He posted a detailed explainer on the needs of replacing MGNREGA with the new Bill.
Malviya said VB-G RAM G is not about removing social safety nets, it is about modernising them. By combining employment, skills, infrastructure, and accountability, it represents a forward-looking evolution beyond MGNREGA.
“Instead of spreading misinformation, Rahul Gandhi must educate himself about Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB-G RAM G,” he added.
The BJP leader said that MGNREGA was introduced with the intention of providing employment security to rural India.
“While the intent was noble, over the years the scheme has suffered from chronic issues such as corruption, delayed payments, poor asset quality, and limited long-term economic impact,” he added.
“Unlike MGNREGA, which often prioritises short-term wage distribution over durable outcomes, VB-G RAM G focuses on productive, village-centric asset creation. Every project under this model is designed to contribute directly to local economic growth — be it irrigation, storage, rural roads, skill hubs, or agri-infrastructure, ensuring long-term benefits rather than temporary relief,” he said.
Malviya elaborated that the VB-G RAM G Bill emphasises skill-linked employment instead of repetitive unskilled labour.
“Rural youth are trained while they work, increasing employability and enabling transition to higher-value livelihoods beyond daily wage dependence.”
“The model also introduces strict accountability and transparency mechanisms, including real-time digital tracking, geo-tagged assets, direct benefit transfers, and community audits. This drastically reduces leakages and political misuse that have plagued MGNREGA,” Malviya said.
“Most significantly, VB-G RAM G Bill shifts the philosophy from entitlement-based dependency to empowerment-driven development. Instead of locking rural families into perpetual wage work, it aims to build self-reliant villages capable of generating sustainable incomes,” the BJP IT Cell Chief added.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi in a post on X, criticised the VB-G RAM-G Bill, saying, “VB–G RAM G isn’t a “revamp” of MGNREGA. It demolishes the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee and turns it into a rationed scheme which is controlled from Delhi. It is “anti-state” and “anti-village” by design.”
(IANS)
