NEW DELHI : The Bill replaces the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and provides a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.

Moving the Bill for consideration and passage, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the new law would strengthen employment security in villages and help fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of self-reliant rural communities. He said the VB-G RAM G Bill aims at all-round village development, poverty reduction and accelerating rural growth.

The legislation, however, triggered sharp opposition criticism over the repeal and renaming of MGNREGA. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra accused the government of undermining Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and “dishonouring” both Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore by removing Gandhi’s name from the landmark rural employment law. She said the move went against the idea of Ram Rajya and alleged the government believed in “Na kisi ka saath, na kisi ka vikas, na Rahim ka, na Ram ka.”

Moitra also said the 2005 Act had transformed livelihood security in rural India and warned that its repeal would weaken social protection for the poor.

Echoing similar concerns, Congress MP Jai Prakash termed the removal of the Father of the Nation’s name from the law “the biggest crime.” He claimed the proposed legislation would create fresh financial liabilities for states and dilute the role of grassroots institutions such as gram sabhas in deciding works under the scheme. Calling the Bill “anti-poor” and “anti-Dalit,” he alleged it reflected a pro-rich approach.

Defending the move, BJP MP Brijmohan Agarwal said the previous Congress-led government had reduced MNREGA to a “dig the pit and cover the pit” programme, alleging it failed to strengthen the rural economy and was marred by corruption. He argued that the inclusion of “Ram” in the new law would act as a deterrent to corruption.

Earlier, Speaker Om Birla had announced that debate on the Bill would be held on Wednesday, with the minister’s reply scheduled for Thursday before the legislation was taken up for passage.