NEW DELHI: Opposition parties staged a 12-hour overnight dharna in the Parliament complex on Thursday night to protest the passage of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, or VB-G RAM G Bill, which replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
The protest came hours after Parliament cleared the Bill amid noisy scenes and walkouts. The Rajya Sabha passed the legislation post midnight by a voice vote, following its approval by the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, even as opposition members demanded its withdrawal and sought its referral to a parliamentary panel.
Opposition MPs accused the government of rushing the Bill through without adequate debate and of scrapping a flagship rural employment scheme that, they said, supported crores of poor households.
Several members walked out of the Upper House, raised slogans against the government and tore copies of the Bill, prompting repeated warnings from the Chair.Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose alleged that the government had “bulldozed” the legislation. “This is an insult to India's poor, it is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, it is an insult to Rabindranath Tagore. With just five hours' notice, this bill was given to us.
We were not allowed a proper debate,” she said.
“Our demand was such an important bill should be sent to the Select Committee and let the opposition parties examine it, let the opposition parties discuss it, let all stakeholders discuss it, but no, in a display of tyranny, in a murder of democracy,” Ghose said, announcing the overnight protest. “We are now going to sit on a 12-hour dharna, 12-hour dharna against the manner in which the Modi government has brought this black law against the people of India, against the poor of India, against the rural poor of India.
”Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala described the development as a “sad day for the country's labour force” and alleged that the government had hit the livelihoods of millions. “This is perhaps the saddest day for the labourers of India. BJP government has attacked the livelihood of 12 crore people by repealing the MGNREGA. They have proved that the Modi government is anti-farmer and anti-poor,” he said.Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said the original law was framed after extensive consultations. “When MGNREGA was drafted, consultations were held for 14 months. It was passed by Parliament with consensus. The scheme would put an extreme burden on states. As a result, this scheme will collapse,” he said.DMK leader Tiruchi Siva accused the government of erasing Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy. “Likewise they have removed Mahatma Gandhi's name himself.
Without Gandhi there is no freedom, that is the total belief in this country. Even in Britain parliament we are having Gandhi statue, but here in Indian parliament his statue is hidden somewhere, and now the scheme which bore his name, his name has also been removed,” he said.Defending the legislation, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the new law was necessary to address shortcomings in the old scheme and to boost rural development.
“This Bill is very necessary as it will help provide employment opportunities, help development of rural India and take the country forward,” he said while replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha.Chouhan accused the Congress of misusing Mahatma Gandhi’s name for political gains and of disrupting parliamentary proceedings. “I heard the opposition with patience all these hours and expected the opposition to hear my response to the discussion.
Making their points, making allegations and running away is like murdering the dreams and ideals of Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.“The entire nation is watching their 'goondagardi' and the opposition is committing the sin of insulting democracy. House 'dadagiri se nahin chalega',” the minister added.He also cited funding figures to defend the government’s record, claiming that while the previous UPA government released Rs 2.13 lakh crore for MGNREGA, the NDA had released nearly Rs 8.53 lakh crore. The opposition, however, maintained that the passage of the Bill without detailed scrutiny set a dangerous precedent and said it would take its protest against the law to the streets across the country.
