Opposition MPs hold protest march in Parliament complex, demand withdrawal of G RAM G bill

Opposition MPs staged a protest inside Parliament against the proposed VB-G RAM G Bill replacing MGNREGA, accusing the government of erasing Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and undermining democratic values, as senior leaders including Sonia Gandhi joined the demonstration

New Delhi: With photographs of Mahatma Gandhi in hand, several opposition MPs on Thursday took out a protest march inside the Parliament House complex against the government’s G RAM G bill and demanded its withdrawal.

Behind a huge banner that had ‘Mahatma Gandhi NREGA’ written on it, they marched from the Gandhi statue at Prerna Sthal to Makar Dwar, raising slogans against the government.

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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, DMK’s K Kanhimozhi, TR Ballu, A Raja, IUML’s ET Mohammed Basheer, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant and RSP’s N K Premchandran, among others, participated in the protest.

“Today Parliament is witnessing murder of democracy. By removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi from NREGA they are trying to kill the democratic values as well as the ideology of the Father of the Nation,” Venugopal told reporters.

Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi joined the protesting MPs and participated in the demonstrations at Makar Dwar.

The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill to replace the UPA-era MGNREGA is being debated in Parliament.

The Opposition has been strongly opposing the Bill, accusing the government of insulting Mahatma Gandhi and diluting the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005.

According to the bill, it will provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.

Within six months from the date of commencement of the VB-G RAM G Act, states will have to make a scheme consistent with the provisions of the new law.