Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution urging the Centre to withdraw the recently enacted Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G] Act and reinstate the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The resolution was moved by State Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh and was adopted by the House amid protests by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) over the Sabarimala gold loss issue.
With this move, Kerala joined Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu—three other non-BJP-ruled southern states—that have already passed similar resolutions opposing the new rural employment legislation and demanding the restoration of the UPA-era MGNREGA.
Speaking in the Assembly, Rajesh said that unlike MGNREGA, which was fully funded by the Centre, the VB-G RAM G scheme mandates states to bear 40 per cent of the total expenditure. He said this had raised serious concerns among southern states, which are strongly opposing the legislation.
The minister argued that the new scheme would impose a heavy financial burden on states and lacks the rights-based framework that formed the core of MGNREGA. He further pointed out that the scheme requires the categorisation of grama panchayats into A, B and C categories, with employment benefits restricted to areas notified by the Centre.
Rajesh warned that several village panchayats in Kerala could be excluded from the scheme as they are relatively more developed compared to those in other states and may fall under higher categories.
He also stated that workers under the rural employment programme have opposed the new scheme, describing it as “anti-people” and alleging that it deprives them of their right to work.
“Therefore, this House demands the withdrawal of the new scheme, which is detrimental to poverty alleviation and shifts the responsibility of employment generation onto the states, and calls for the restoration of MGNREGA,” Rajesh said.
Notably, the Karnataka Assembly passed a similar resolution on Wednesday, while Telangana and Tamil Nadu had adopted such resolutions last month.
