Chouhan trains guns on Opposition claiming VB-G RAM G Act aligns with PM's Viksit Bharat Mission

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today defended the VB-G RAM G Act while tearing into the UPA’s MGNREGA, claiming that earlier law was fraught with corruption. Chouhan said the new Act is aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat Mission.

Speaking to the media, Chouhan alleged that the earlier MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) 2005 had many “flaws and involved corruption”.

The minister's remarks came in response to the Punjab government’s decision to hold a special session discussing the VB-G RAM G ACt and possibly pass a resolution against it.

“For instance, in Punjab, social audits were done only for 5,915 panchayats out of 13,304. Approximately, there were 10,653 instances of corruption and no action had been taken against them. Furthermore, fake bills were made in earlier schemes and some works were carried out that were not permitted under MGNREGA,” Chouhan claimed.

He further suggested that instead of objecting to the name G RAM G scheme, it should be used for the development of Punjab.

“Passing a resolution in the Assembly against a law made by Parliament goes against the idea of our federal system. It also goes against the basic values of the Constitution. It is unfair, undemocratic, and a protest made without even listening to our side,” the Minister said.

“VB-G RAM G Act is aligned with Viksit Bharat”

Defending the newly passed VB-G RAM G Act, Chouhan said that the new bill is aligned with PM Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat (developed India).

“We can’t imagine Viksit Bharat without a Viksit Gaon ( developed village) and the VB-G RAM G scheme is aligned with our developmental goals,” he said.

Criticism of MGNREGA

Going further, the Minister also criticised the MGNREGA scheme, which he believed was ineffective. In his opinion, there was no evidential growth realised at the village level in the older scheme even after spending huge amounts over the time.

“In the earlier scheme, there were complaints about delays in payments. With the new scheme, we have made it seamless. We have also strengthened the payment systems in case of unavailability of work,” Chouhan said.

He also claimed that in the earlier scheme, many tasks were done using machines instead of manual labour, estimates were inflated, valuations were incorrect, and the same work was repeated multiple times.

“After years of discussion on all these issues, we came to the conclusion that continuing the MGNREGA scheme in its current form is not aligned with growth nor profitable for laborers. So we have decided to replace the scheme with the VB-G RAM G Act,” the minister said.

More budget for VB-G RAM G Act

The minister said that under the new scheme, the government has increased work days from 100 to 125. “To ensure this, we have also increased the budget to Rs 1,51,282 crore from Rs 88,000 crore,” he said.

The Minister also informed that the Centre will have a share of more than Rs 95,000 crore and it may increase in the coming time.

Local body to make the plan

According to the Minister, the Gram Panchayat (local body) will prepare a full development plan for the village, and this plan will be carried out under the new scheme.

“In Parliament, I answered every question raised about the scheme. I asked everyone to hear me out, but the Opposition kept interrupting and did not allow the discussion to continue,” Chouhan said.