The Modi government is set to abolish the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and introduce a new rural employment law. It has been listed for discussion in the current winter session of Parliament.

A copy of the bill was circulated among Lok Sabha MPs on Monday. It is titled the ‘Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025’.

The new bill states that its objective is to create a new framework for rural development in line with the national vision of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’. The number of workdays will be increased from 100 to 125 days.

Meanwhile, the Congress party has opposed the government's decision. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi questioned why Mahatma Gandhi's name was being removed.

Earlier, on December 12, it was reported that the Union Cabinet had renamed MGNREGA as the Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Scheme. However, no official notification from the government had been released.

Decision based on socio-economic changes

According to the objectives stated in the bill, MGNREGA has provided employment to rural families over the past 20 years, but in view of the socio-economic changes in villages, it is necessary to strengthen it further.

Under the new law, every rural household willing to do unskilled work will receive 125 days of paid employment annually. The aim is to achieve the holistic development of villages in line with the Viksit Bharat 2047 goal.

Priyanka had said: "I don't understand the logic behind changing the name."

When the news of renaming MGNREGA surfaced, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad said that she did not understand the logic behind the decision to change the name of the MGNREGA scheme. She said it would lead to unnecessary expenditure.

She said, "I don't understand what the mentality behind this is. First of all, it's Mahatma Gandhi's name, and when it's changed, government resources are again spent on it. From offices to stationery, everything has to be renamed, so it's a big, expensive process. So what's the point of doing this?" The Congress party had said, "The Modi government has changed the names of 32 of our schemes."

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate shared a video regarding the renaming of MNREGA. In it, she claimed that Narendra Modi had changed the name of MGNREGA to the "Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Scheme." She added that Modi used to call this very MNREGA a bundle of Congress's failures, but the reality is that this same MNREGA has proven to be a lifeline for rural India.

Prime Minister Modi initiated a discussion in the Lok Sabha on Monday to commemorate 150 years of Vande Mataram. In his hour-long speech, he said, "Vande Mataram was a befitting reply to the British, and this slogan continues to inspire even today. Mahatma Gandhi also liked it during the freedom struggle. He saw this song as a national anthem."

The Prime Minister said that the power of this song was immense for him. Then why was so much injustice done to it in the past decades? Why was Vande Mataram betrayed? What was that force that overpowered even the sentiments of revered Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi)?

In his hour-long speech, PM Modi mentioned Vande Mataram 121 times, the country 50 times, India 35 times, the British 34 times, Bengal 17 times, and Congress 13 times. He mentioned the creator of Vande Mataram, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, 10 times, Nehru 7 times, Mahatma Gandhi 6 times, the Muslim League 5 times, Jinnah 3 times, the Constitution 3 times, Muslims 2 times, and appeasement 3 times.

Nehru bowed before Jinnah

Modi said that Muhammad Ali Jinnah raised a slogan against Vande Mataram from Lucknow on October 15, 1936. The then Congress president, Jawaharlal Nehru, felt his position was threatened.

The PM said that instead of giving a strong reply to the baseless statements of the Muslim League and condemning them, the opposite happened. He started an inquiry into Vande Mataram itself.

6 major points from the PM's speech:

Remembering Vande Mataram is a great privilege for this House: "It is a great privilege for all of us in this House to remember Vande Mataram, the mantra, the slogan that energized and inspired the country's freedom movement, and showed the path of sacrifice and penance."
India is progressing rapidly on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram: When Vande Mataram completed 50 years, the country was shackled in the chains of slavery. When it completed 100 years, the country was in the darkness of the Emergency. Today, as it completes 150 years, India has become the world's fifth-largest economy and is growing rapidly.
He narrated an anecdote from 1906: While recounting an incident related to Vande Mataram, he said that on May 20, 1906, a Vande Mataram procession was taken out in Barisal (now in Bangladesh), in which more than 10,000 people took to the streets. People of all religions and castes, including Hindus and Muslims, marched on the streets holding Vande Mataram flags.

Vande Mataram became the slogan of every street in Bengal: Our brave sons would climb the gallows without any fear and chanted Vande Mataram until their last breath. Countless freedom fighters embraced death while chanting Vande Mataram. Vande Mataram became the slogan of every street for the unity of Bengal, and this slogan inspired Bengal.

Nehru bowed down to the Muslim League: Jawaharlal Nehru saw his throne shaking. Instead of giving a strong reply to the baseless statements of the Muslim League and condemning them, the opposite happened. He started investigating Vande Mataram itself. Nehru wrote a letter to Netaji five days later. In it, agreeing with Jinnah's sentiments, he wrote that the Anandamath background of Vande Mataram could hurt the feelings of Muslims. He wrote – this background will provoke the Muslims. The Congress issued a statement that a meeting of the Congress Working Committee would be held on October 26 to review the use of Vande Mataram.
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People took out processions across the country against this proposal, but the Congress fragmented Vande Mataram. History is witness that the Congress bowed down to the Muslim League.

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INC has become an MNC: Congress has outsourced, unfortunately, the policies of Congress remain the same. INC has become an MNC. Whoever Congress associates with, they create controversy over Vande Mataram. When the time of trial comes, it is then that it is proven how resolute and strong we are.
Discussion in Lok Sabha on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram

On Monday, the sixth day of the winter session of Parliament, a discussion is being held in the Lok Sabha on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram. Ten hours have been allotted for this discussion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the discussion at 12 noon. Gaurav Gogoi, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha from the main opposition party Congress, was the first to speak.

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The Government of India is organizing a year-long program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram. On December 2, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla convened a meeting of representatives from all parties. It was decided in this meeting that a discussion on Vande Mataram would be held in the Lok Sabha on December 8 and in the Rajya Sabha on December 9.

The Winter Session of Parliament will run from December 1st to December 19th. There will be 15 sittings over 19 days. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced this on the social media platform X on Saturday.

Previously, the Monsoon Session of Parliament ran from July 21st to August 21st. On the first day of the session, the then Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar, resigned. The entire session was subsequently disrupted by opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. A total of 21 sittings were held during the Monsoon Session.

The Lok Sabha was scheduled to have 120 hours of discussion, but only 37 hours of proceedings were held. The Rajya Sabha saw only 41 hours of discussion. A total of 27 bills were passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The Constitution Amendment Bill, which would remove the arrested Prime Minister and Chief Minister, was the most discussed bill. A proposal to refer it to the JPC was passed.

The Winter Session of Parliament also saw the I.N.D.I.A. The bloc may initiate impeachment proceedings against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. On August 18th, a meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc was held at the residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

Following the meeting, eight opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, DMK, and RJD, held a joint press conference. TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee stated, "There are three days left in the current session of Parliament (monsoon session). A 14-day notice is required for impeachment proceedings. Given the CEC's attitude, we will submit the notice in the next session (winter session)."

Indeed, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had accused the Election Commission of vote-stealing on August 7th. On August 17th, CEC Gyanesh Kumar had said, "Rahul should file an affidavit on the allegations of vote-stealing or apologize to the nation."

On July 29th, a 16-hour-long debate on Operation Sindoor took place in the Lok Sabha. PM Modi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, participated in the debate.

Rahul Gandhi said in his 36-minute speech, "If he has the guts, the Prime Minister should say here in the House that he is lying. The Lok Sabha debate on Operation Sindoor lasted for over 16 hours."

In his one-hour-and-40-minute speech, PM Modi, without naming Trump, said, "During Operation Sindoor, no country in the world stopped India from taking action to protect its own security."