Congress’ 'Save MGNREGA' Campaign To Focus On Resolutions From 2.56 Lakh Gram Sabhas
'Save MGNREGA' campaign is being conducted from January 8 to February 10 to register protests across villages against the new VB-G RAM G Act.
Published : January 9, 2026 at 7:59 PM IST
New Delhi: The Congress is looking at one of the biggest mobilisations of workers as it plans to get a resolution on the former rural job law, Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Generation Act (MGNREGA), passed by over 2.5 lakh gram sabhas across the country.
One of the key charges of the Congress is that the Centre has diluted the powers of the gram panchayats to decide the nature of work to be done and allocate work under the MGNREGA, which gave a right to the rural poor to demand work whenever they felt the need.
Under the new Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozkar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act passed by the Parliament, the government will decide when the scheme will be open to the rural poor which in a way takes away the right to work given by the previous UPA government. The grand old party says its governments in the past worked to empower the panchayati raj institutions in the country but the new scheme would weaken them.
According to the Congress insiders, all the state units have been instructed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to take the MGNREGA protests across the villages. A key element of the agitation is to get the over 2.5 lakh gram sabhas pass a resolution demanding reinstatement of the former right to work law.
“The Congress has workers in almost every village across the country. There are around 22 crore MGNREGA workers across the villages in the country. We will get in touch with them as well as the gram sabha members and urge them to pass a resolution in favour of the old law. The gram sabhas would certainly value the concern of the MGNREGA beneficiaries. The resolution would send a big message from the villages to the Central government as well as to the country,” Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sangathan chairman Sunil panwar told ETV Bharat.
He said this is going to be one of the biggest mobilisations of workers across the country. "It is a huge challenge but not impossible. The difference between the old and the new scheme is that while MGNREGA was a right to work, the VB-G RAM G is a scheme which dilutes the powers of the gram panchayats,” he said.
According to Congress insiders, the high command was miffed over the Centre’s move to change the old law into a new scheme and also drop the name of Mahatma Gandhi attached to it during the previous winter session of Parliament.
Accordingly, a Congress Working Committee meeting on December 27, 2025 approved a nationwide 'Save MGNREGA' campaign from January 8 to February 10, 2026 to register its protests against the Centre’s move.
On January 8, various state units discussed their specific plans to take the MGNREGA protests across the villages as instructed by a special coordination committee headed by AICC treasurer Ajay Maken.
As the Congress wants it to be a high impact campaign, the AICC has shared a document listing the key points to be flagged during the protests with the state units. It also asked the state units to get the same translated into the local language and distribute the material among the local population for a wider publicity.
The party functionaries will also do their bit in educating the masses on the changed rural jobs law through outreach programmes targeted at the MGNREGA beneficiaries as well as the common villagers. Besides, various protests in front of government offices will be staged to register the Opposition's views on the issue.
According to Congress Working Committee member Jagdish Thakor, the new rural jobs scheme VB-G RAM G is against decentralisation that was ensured under MGNREGA.
“Earlier, gram sabhas and panchayats had the right to plan work based on local needs. The new scheme centralises all decision-making, including those related to funds, works and assets, and this gives full control of managing the scheme to the Centre. Many panchayats will receive zero funds and this will destroy local planning and the rights of the village bodies. The panchayats will henceforth just implement the Centrally designed schemes. Further, MGNREGA provided wages which were linked to inflation but the new scheme removes this certainty," Thakor told ETV Bharat.
According to Congress Working Committee member Kamleshwar Patel, MGNREGA was designed to address the issues of rural population but the new scheme ignores them.
“MGNREGA was one of the best demand-driven rural job schemes in the country and it was appreciated abroad as well. The scheme helped alleviate poverty. Every year, crores of rural families found work in their own villages. As a result, there was a decline in hunger and migration, increase in rural wages and durable assets such as ponds, roads, canals and check dams were created. During drought, floods, and Covid, the old law provided a safety net for the poor. Women accounted for nearly 60 per cent of total workdays and gained equal wages, income security and social dignity in the process," Patel told ETV Bharat.
Patel said under VB-G RAM G, demanding work is no longer a right of the poor as work will be provided only in panchayats notified by the Central government. If a panchayat is not selected, the villagers there will have no entitlement to work even if they are affected by poverty or are in distress, he said adding, the new scheme converts a constitutional promise into a government permission.
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