The Congress on Monday marked 20 years since the launch of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), calling it a transformative law and accusing the Modi government of replacing it with a flawed scheme that has “bulldozed it away.”

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the landmark legislation was launched on this day two decades ago at Badnapalli village in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district.

“Over the years, it has provided 180 crore days of work to rural households (especially women), created an estimated 10 crore community assets, significantly reduced distress migration, empowered gram panchayats, and decisively increased the bargaining power of the rural poor for higher wages,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

He said the scheme also pioneered direct benefit transfers, ensuring wages were credited directly into bank and post office accounts.

Ramesh added that individual small and marginal farmers were able to create irrigation facilities such as wells on their own land under the programme, underscoring its long-term impact on rural livelihoods.

MGNREGA was a demand-based legal guarantee and not just an administrative promise, Ramesh asserted.

"It was a right derived from Article 41 of the Constitution. Work was allocated when demanded by citizens and was made available anywhere in rural India. Projects were decided upon by the local Gram Panchayat, and the State Government having to pay only 10% of the overall costs was incentivised to provide work without having to bear significant costs," he said.

Social audits through the Gram Sabha and high-level audits through the CAG were conducted regularly, Ramesh pointed out.

He further claimed that Modi Government's new law guarantees only centralisation in New Delhi.

Work will now be notified in certain districts by the Modi government, he added.

"Work will be provided based on the Government's allocated budget rather than on citizen demand. The scheme will stop altogether for two months every year during peak agricultural activities - a big blow to workers' bargaining power who won't be able to negotiate better wages for agricultural work," Ramesh said.

The panchayat has been sidelined, and projects will be determined by the Modi government according to its priorities, he said.

Finally, states will now have to bear 40% of the costs given their financial stress, they will not be able to do so and will stop providing work altogether, he opined.

"MGNREGA was a transformative law. The Modi government's new scheme that bulldozed it away is a flaw," Ramesh said.

Ramesh also shared a photo from 20 years ago when Cheemala Pedakka, a Dalit woman from Badnapalli, became the first job card holder under MGNREGA.

The Union government's Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-G RAM G), was passed by both houses amid opposition uproar and received presidential assent in December 2025, effectively replacing MGNREGA after two decades.

Under the new law, the statutory guarantee of employment was increased on paper from 100 to 125 days per rural household each year, and changes were made in funding patterns, planning mechanisms and implementation structures.

Opposition parties have argued the new law dilutes the rights-based nature of MGNREGA, increases centralisation of power, and saddles states with greater financial responsibilities, potentially weakening the original legal entitlement to work.