Thirty-five-year-old Haroli Shekhar lives in a village in Raichur, one among Karnataka’s poorest districts.
Day by day, seven members of his giant household of landless labourers exit looking for work. Typically, they labour at building websites, however more often than not they find yourself discovering work below the Mahatma Gandhi Nationwide Rural Employment Assure Act.
The landmark legislation was enacted by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance authorities in 2005. It made the federal government legally sure to offer not less than 100 days of labor to each rural family that calls for it, failing which it should pay them an unemployment allowance.
Shekhar, a resident of Heerapur village, mentioned he typically has to attend a month or two to get work below the scheme and cost is usually delayed. Even so, he manages to earn Rs 15,000 a 12 months by means of MGNREGA. “I largely dig trenches or assist in constructing canals for irrigation within the space round my village,” he informed Scroll.
The foremost profit, he mentioned, is that he will get to stay in his village along with his two kids, reasonably than transfer to distant cities for work.
On Monday, with the Narendra Modi authorities proposing a brand new invoice to exchange the legislation, Shekhar’s security web may be below risk.
Consultants Scroll spoke to mentioned the brand new invoice removes a number of key provisions of the agricultural employment assure, reminiscent of the facility of gram panchayats to allocate work in response to calls for from staff.
It consolidates decision-making with the central authorities, whereas transferring higher monetary burden on to the states. It even proposes to offer the Centre the facility to determine during which area or space it needs to allocate work and the way a lot funds a state must be sanctioned.
Economist Jean Dreze mentioned the brand new legislation “is all set to destroy MGNREGA within the guise of revamping it as a brand new scheme”.
“It offers a piece assure with none assure that the assure applies,” he added.
Chakradhar Buddha, a researcher with LibTech India, a coalition that works to enhance public service supply, agreed with Dreze. “This was the primary programme which assured employment within the nation,” mentioned. “But when the brand new invoice is handed, individuals won’t get jobs in the event that they demand it. They are going to get jobs if the central authorities has the price range and thinks it match to offer work of their village.”
He added: “With this, we’re going again to pre-NREGA days.”
For states, fewer rights, higher burden
The central authorities plans to exchange the agricultural employment assure legislation with the Viksit Bharat Assure for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB–G RAM G, Invoice, 2025.
The invoice will increase the minimal variety of assured work days from 100 to 125.
However probably the most contentious a part of the invoice pertains to the powers that the central authorities has stored for itself.
Part 4 (5) of the invoice states. “The Central Authorities shall decide the State-wise normative allocation for every monetary 12 months, based mostly on goal parameters as could also be prescribed by the Central Authorities.”
“NREGA was a demand-based scheme that decided work allocation,” mentioned Nikhil Day, rural activist and founding father of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. “By way of this part, the federal government ends that demand. Now the central authorities will determine the allocation.”
Furthermore, the work will likely be deliberate below Viksit Gram Panchayat plans, which will likely be ready by native gram panchayats, however solely after approval by the central authorities. This successfully reduces the facility of gram panchayats to formulate work orders.
The funding sample has additionally modified, to the detriment of states.
Underneath the prevailing scheme, the Centre paid 100% of the wages and 75% of fabric value.
Based on the brand new invoice, the Centre will present 60% of funds to all states, aside from those within the North East. The remainder needs to be borne by the state governments. Within the North East and in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre can pay 90% of the wages.
“The brand new scheme is simply one other centrally-sponsored scheme with 60:40 cost-sharing, on the discretion of the central authorities,” mentioned Dreze.
State governments can solely determine on procedures to take care of accounts of labourers and expenditure associated to implementation of the scheme.
If the state spends in extra of the funds allotted by the Centre, it should bear the fee, as per procedures laid down by the central authorities, the invoice says.
Dey identified that if states are compelled to pay extra below the scheme, they could not be capable to afford it or prioritise work below the scheme for individuals.
John Brittas, Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from Kerala, mentioned on the social media platform X that if the brand new invoice is carried out, “states should shell out round Rs 50,000+ crore. Kerala alone should bear an extra Rs 2,000-2,500 crore”.
VB–G RAM G Invoice repealing MGNREGA: eradicating Mahatma Gandhi was solely the trailer. The actual injury is deeper.
Govt eliminated the soul of a rights-based assure legislation and changed it with a conditional, centrally managed scheme stacked in opposition to States & staff.
“125 days” is the…
— John Brittas (@JohnBrittas) December 15, 2025
For Venkateswarlu Kuruva, a social activist based mostly in Raichur, the whittling down of state powers is a transparent cause to fret.
He lives in Karnataka, a state run by the Congress, the get together that sits in Opposition on the Centre. “Folks will lose the best to work and earn” if this comes into impact, he mentioned.
‘Landlords again in feudal management’
A number of consultants informed Scroll that the brand new legislation will result in inequitable entry to employment and incentivise misery migration.
As an illustration, Part 5 of the invoice states that the Centre will decide rural areas in each state the place work will likely be offered.
In Raichur, Kuruva mentioned that after MGNREGA was carried out in 2005, there was a decline in migration and folks started to work close to their house. “However now if a selected village will not be listed for work allocation, individuals could also be compelled to maneuver to cities for work,” he mentioned. “That would be the worst potential consequence.”
The invoice additionally proposes a 60-day pause on assured work throughout agricultural seasons. The federal government has reasoned that this can “facilitate satisfactory farm-labour availability throughout peak agricultural seasons”.
Consultants identified that this places farm labourers at an obstacle.
The agricultural employment assure scheme not simply acted as a cushion, but in addition empowered them to cut price for higher wages throughout peak agricultural seasons. “If there’s a clause that there will likely be no work in any respect throughout that point, then labourers will lose the bargaining energy,” Dey mentioned.
Buddha, from LibTech, mentioned, “MGNREGA destroyed the dependence of labourers on landlords. However this invoice successfully destroys that privilege for not less than two months.”
Dey added: “It would put landlords in feudal management, and may result in exploitative wages.”
The digital burden
As Scroll has reported, the Modi authorities’s insistence on biometric attendance and necessary Aadhar-based funds has derailed the scheme and squeezed out staff.
The brand new invoice will increase the digital burden on staff.
It proposes to trace attendance and funds with the assistance of synthetic intelligence and dashboards.
Buddha, the researcher from LibTech, mentioned that the introduction of expertise had already squeezed staff out of the scheme.
As an illustration, he mentioned, necessary on-line Know Your Buyer, or e-KYC, verification, led to the deletion of not less than 27 lakh staff between October 10 and November 14. The brand new invoice might push extra needy beneficiaries away from the scheme if there’s a tech failure in distant rural areas.
Kuruva, who has been serving to staff get re-registered after their names have been deleted on account of e-KYC, mentioned, “Know-how has been stripping away the best to earn”.
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