Centre undermining rural workers’ rights by replacing MGNREGA, says K.C. Venugopal

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal on Tuesday (January 13, 2026) accused the Centre of undermining the rights of rural workers in the country by replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar-Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025.

He was inaugurating a two-day day-and-night protest organised by the Congress in front of Kerala Lok Bhavan, demanding the restoration of MGNREGA in its original form with adequate safeguards for labourers. The protest is part of the nationwide ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ campaign launched by the Congress.

Mr. Venugopal alleged that the move to “dilute” the employment guarantee scheme was “part of a larger ideological agenda” of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of ‘Gram Swaraj’.

“MGNREGA is the most comprehensive embodiment of Gandhi’s idea of village self-rule and decentralised governance. By dismantling this law, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sangh Parivar are attempting to destroy Gandhi’s ideas once again,” he said.

He added that the scheme is the largest employment programme in the world. “But through this amendment, the BJP-led Centre is effectively snatching away the people’s right to employment. Earlier, the Centre bore 100% of the wage cost. Now, it has cut its responsibility to just 60%, forcing States to shoulder the remaining 40%.”

He cautioned that the move would place a severe financial burden on Kerala, requiring an additional ₹2,000 crore from the State treasury.

Mr. Venugopal added that the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) would continue their agitation until the law is fully restored. He expressed confidence that the Centre would eventually be forced to withdraw the changes, “just as it did with the farm laws.”

Highlighting the actions taken by Congress-ruled States, he pointed out that the Telangana Assembly had convened a special session and unanimously passed a resolution to demand the restoration of the original MGNREGA Act. Besides, gram sabhas across Telangana had adopted resolutions in support of the demand. The Karnataka Assembly was set to hold an emergency session to discuss the issue.

Calling upon the Kerala government to take a similar stand, Mr. Venugopal urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to convene a special Assembly session with the restoration of MGNREGA as its first agenda.

Responding to the criticisms made by the Chief Minister against Opposition MPs, Mr. Venugopal accused the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of “lacking the moral authority” to question the Opposition, while allegedly endorsing Centre-backed initiatives “aligned with the RSS agenda” without proper consultation.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and several other UDF leaders participated in the protest.