Mamata Banerjee Renames Bengal’s Rural Job Scheme After Mahatma Gandhi

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during an official engagement on December 18, 2025, declared that the state's existing rural employment guarantee initiative, previously known as 'Karmashree', would henceforth be officially renamed to prominently feature the name of Mahatma Gandhi, positioning the move as a deliberate tribute to the Father of the Nation.

This announcement arrives amidst heightened political controversy surrounding the Central Government's newly passed legislation in the Lok Sabha—the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, abbreviated as the VB-G RAM G Bill—which effectively replaces the longstanding Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act introduced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

The core point of contention lies in the deliberate omission of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the title of the revamped national rural employment programme, a change that has drawn sharp criticism from opposition leaders who view it as a symbolic erasure of the iconic leader's legacy from one of India's most significant social welfare schemes.

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Expressing profound dismay, Mamata Banerjee articulated her shame over the Centre's decision to strip Gandhi's name from the scheme, emphatically stating that if the Union Government was unwilling or unable to accord due respect to the Father of the Nation, the Trinamool Congress administration in West Bengal would step forward to honour him appropriately through its own state-level programme.

The renaming gesture not only reinforces ideological differences between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and the opposition Trinamool Congress in West Bengal but also amplifies broader debates on rural employment policies, federalism, and the politicization of national icons, underscoring Mamata Banerjee's strategy to counter central initiatives with state-level assertions of historical reverence and welfare commitment.

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