'Not bulldozed, rebuilt': Think Tank CEO takes on Congress over VB-G RAM G Act

New Delhi, Dec 22 The political debate over the newly enacted Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act has intensified. Akhilesh Mishra, CEO of BlueKraft Digital Foundation, has issued a detailed rebuttal to Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, who reposted Sonia Gandhi’s article accusing the Centre of “bulldozing” MGNREGA to replace it with the new Act.

Responding to Ramesh’s remarks, Mishra said the Congress criticism is driven by nostalgia rather than ground realities, ignoring both the systemic failures of MGNREGA and the transformation of rural India.

Mishra wrote on X, “Jairam ji, the irony of quoting Sonia Gandhi on MNREGA while defending a system that had clearly collapsed on the ground is hard to miss! Let us start with facts, not nostalgia.” “Guarantee expanded, not scrapped.”

The CEO of the Think Tank also rejected Congress’ charge that the employment guarantee has been dismantled. According to him, the VB-G RAM G Act strengthens the statutory commitment.

“The Modi Government has not ‘scrapped’ employment guarantee. It has expanded it. The statutory guarantee goes up from 100 days to 125 days under the VB–G RAM G Act. That alone demolishes the claim of dilution on VB- G RAM G Act 2025,” he said.

He emphasised that the reform targets the implementation framework, not the principle of employment security. “What is being replaced is not the idea of rural security, but a 20-year-old architecture that had become dysfunctional, leak-prone and misaligned with today’s rural India.”

Backing his argument with data, Mishra highlighted that the legal “right to work” often remained notional. “Despite all the rhetoric, only 7.6 per cent of households were able to complete even 100 days of work in recent years. The ‘right’ existed largely on paper,” he said.

Mishra also pointed to large-scale corruption and administrative failures. “Meanwhile, Rs 193 crore was misappropriated in just one year, across multiple states. (Not surprisingly, most INDI Alliance rule states). Non existent works, machine used in construction (while payment made to fictitious workers and more...)”

Citing West Bengal as an example, Mishra said investigations revealed systemic fraud. “For example, investigations across 19 districts of West Bengal found non-existent works, fake entries and systematic violations, forcing a fund freeze. This was not political vendetta. It was administrative collapse,” he said.

Mishra argued that Congress refuses to recognise structural changes in rural India because it undermines its ideological framework.

He said, “Now look at the rural reality Congress refuses to acknowledge because its povertarian ideology would collapse. Rural poverty has fallen sharply from 25.7% in 2011–12 to 4.86% today. Rural wages, consumption and non-farm opportunities have risen.”

He added that demand for MGNREGA work has declined because better alternatives exist. “MNREGA demand itself fell 32% in November 2025, with participation dropping nearly 64% between June and October 2025, because people had better options.”

According to Mishra, the VB-G RAM G Act corrects the earlier model by aligning public employment with national and local development priorities.

“A law written for 2005 cannot be frozen in time when rural India has moved on. That is exactly what VB-G RAM G corrects. It keeps the guarantee, strengthens it, but ties employment to durable outcomes,” he said.

He listed priority areas under the Act, including water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-linked assets, and climate-resilience works.

Mishra underlined that planning remains decentralised but is now technologically integrated. “Planning now starts at the Gram Panchayat, but is integrated with GIS and PM Gati Shakti, so assets are actually useful and connected.”

He said digital and biometric payments have sharply reduced leakage. “Payments remain digital, biometric and near-100% direct, shutting the door on the leakages Congress learned to live with (obviously deliberately!).”

Responding to criticism of the provision limiting continuous workdays, Mishra said the issue has been misrepresented.

“The much-criticised 60-day pause is another misrepresentation. It is aggregated, not continuous, and exists to ensure farm labour during sowing and harvest so food prices do not spiral and farmers are not hurt,” he said.

Mishra added, “Workers still get 125 days across the remaining year. This ensures 125+60 days of work in the year!”

He further wrote that the Congress’ opposition stems from ideological unease rather than concern for workers. “The real discomfort here is ideological. Congress built MNREGA as a permanent dependency framework. The Modi Government is redesigning it as a transition platform from wage survival to productive rural prosperity,” he said.

Summing up the rationale for the reform, he said: “Guarantee plus growth. Rights plus accountability. Work plus assets. That is why the law had to change. And that is why povertarian slogans will not stop reform.”

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