Bhupinder Singh Hooda has criticized the VB-G RAM G Act replacing MGNREGA, calling it a retreat from enforceable work rights. He highlighted concerns over the new 60:40 funding split burdening states and undermining decentralization. He urged withdrawing the new scheme to restore MGNREGA in its original form.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Chief Minister of Haryana and Leader of Opposition, has sharply criticized the VB-G RAM G Act that replaces MGNREGA. In his opinion piece, he describes the legislation as a fundamental retreat from India's commitment to a legally enforceable right to work, signaling a shift away from decentralization, federalism, and economic dignity that have supported rural livelihoods for nearly two decades.
The new scheme reclassifies rural employment as a centrally sponsored program with a 60:40 funding split between the Centre and states. Under MGNREGA, the Centre covered the entire cost of unskilled wages, acknowledging the limited fiscal capacity of poorer states during distress periods. Hooda warns that imposing a higher financial burden on states—already facing shrinking fiscal space, GST uncertainties, and rising welfare obligations—will lead to reduced work approvals and suppressed demand.
The government's claim of enhancing welfare by raising the annual employment ceiling to 125 days is misleading, according to Hooda. MGNREGA data indicates the real issues are underfunding and delayed payments, not the statutory limit. Even in the peak distress of 2020-21 during COVID-19, only about 9.5 percent of rural households completed 100 days of work, averaging around 7 percent over the past three years.
The act shifts from a bottom-up, demand-driven framework—where households could legally demand work—to a centrally capped, supply-driven model. The Centre sets allocations in advance, making states liable for excess spending, which will discourage work demand. MGNREGA generates over two billion person-days of employment annually, supporting nearly 50 million rural households, with more than half its workforce being women and around 40 percent from SCs and STs. It has driven rural wage growth and created durable assets for agriculture and climate resilience.
The politicization of funding, such as the three-year suspension of MGNREGA funds to West Bengal, undermines the new framework's credibility. Hooda calls for withdrawing the scheme and retaining MGNREGA in its original rights-based form.