Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has launched a fierce attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, accusing it of orchestrating a systematic dismantling of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) through persistent budget reductions and the recent enactment of a replacement law that shifts greater financial responsibility onto states.

In detailed statements and social media posts, Yadav characterized the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025—which officially replaces MGNREGA—as a deliberate conspiracy to gradually phase out the longstanding rural employment program, emphasizing that mere rebranding cannot mask the underlying intent to bid a permanent farewell to the scheme while burdening state governments.

Yadav pointed to ongoing central budget cuts for rural employment initiatives, alongside mounting fiscal pressures on states due to irregularities in GST compensation disbursements and other central funding delays, arguing that financially strained states would inevitably be forced to curtail or abandon participation in the program, effectively leading to its nationwide erosion.

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He additionally charged the central administration with strategically reclassifying hundreds of gram sabhas as urban entities, a move that disqualifies them from rural employment guarantees and results in substantial budgetary losses for affected villages, further undermining the scheme's reach and effectiveness in supporting rural livelihoods.

Countering the opposition's criticisms, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath hailed the VB-G RAM G Act as a landmark reform that enhances transparency, extends guaranteed employment days to 125, prioritizes durable asset creation, and aligns with the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047, while pledging full state commitment to its implementation and dismissing detractors as defenders of past corrupt practices under the previous framework.

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