Kerala Assembly Demands Withdrawal of VB-G RAM G Act and Return of MGNREGA

The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution urging the Centre to withdraw the VB-G RAM G Act and reinstate the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The move aligns Kerala with Karnataka, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, which have already passed similar resolutions opposing the new rural employment framework. The resolution was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh amid disruptions over the Sabarimala gold loss issue.

Rajesh highlighted that, unlike MGNREGA, which is fully funded by the Centre, the new VB-G RAM G Act requires states to bear 40 per cent of the expenditure. He described this as a substantial financial burden on state governments, particularly impacting Kerala, and warned that the law lacks the rights-based guarantees that formed the core of MGNREGA, weakening its efficacy in poverty alleviation.

The minister also criticized the Act’s categorization of grama panchayats into A, B, and C classes, limiting employment opportunities to areas notified by the Centre. He cautioned that several relatively developed panchayats in Kerala may be excluded from the scheme, thereby restricting access for rural workers who depend on guaranteed employment to meet basic needs.

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According to Rajesh, rural employment workers have expressed opposition to the new scheme, arguing that it undermines their statutory right to work and threatens ongoing poverty reduction efforts. “The House is demanding that the new scheme, which shifts the employment burden to the states and hampers poverty alleviation, be withdrawn and MGNREGA reinstated,” he said while moving the resolution.

The resolution reflects growing resistance among non-BJP-ruled southern states to the Centre’s restructuring of rural employment programmes. Karnataka adopted a similar resolution on Wednesday, while Telangana and Tamil Nadu passed theirs last month, signaling unified regional opposition and mounting pressure on the Centre to reconsider the new legislation.

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