Senior leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former Minister T. Harish Rao has strongly criticised the Central Government for removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the rural employment guarantee scheme and changing the name to ‘Viksit Bharat — Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)’ (VB-G RAM G) is highly objectionable.
“It’s not just a name change but a direct attack on the rights of the States,” Mr. Rao said in a statement on Friday (December 19, 2025). The new 60:40 funding rule puts a very heavy financial burden on the States and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government of trying to make the employment guarantee scheme weak.
By changing the rules, the Centre is trying to take away power from the States and keep total control in its hands. He questioned the silence of the Congress party which talks about States’ rights in public but quietly supports the BJP’s plans in Parliament. He mentioned that both BJP and Congress are the same when it comes to taking power away from the States.
Terming the changes in the name of ‘reforms’ as a joke, the BRS leader said the changes would hurt the poor and put States in financial trouble. He demanded that the Centre retain Mahatma Gandhi’s name for the scheme and asked it to respect the powers delegated to the States by the Constitution.
Meanwhile, party’s Rajya Sabha member V. Ravichandra also criticised the Centre for changing the nomenclature of NREGS, particularly removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from it. He faulted the Centre for increasing the States’ share in funding the scheme by increasing it from 10% to 40% burdening them immensely, particularly the newly formed States such as Telangana.
He suggested the Centre to discuss it in the National Development Council and send it to Joint Parliamentary or Select Committee before implementing it with the changed name and guidelines.
Curated by James Chen
