Change for the worse, Pg6

Key Highlights:

• The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
• The new Bill changes the funding pattern to a 60:40 split between the Centre and States, deviating from MGNREGA's full wage cost coverage by the Union government.
• Data indicates that only during the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic year, 9.5% of households worked for 100 days under MGNREGA, with around 7% in the last two years.
• The proposed scheme introduces a supply-driven framework with capped allocations decided by the Union government, requiring States to bear excess expenditure.

Detailed Insights:

• The renaming of MGNREGA to VB-G RAM G is seen as an attempt to distance from Gandhi's Gram Swaraj concept and democratic decentralization.
• The shift to a centrally sponsored scheme alters MGNREGA's special status, impacting rural wages and potentially straining State finances already affected by GST restructuring.
• The VB-G RAM G Bill removes the bottom-up, demand-based nature of MGNREGA, replacing it with a supply-driven model where the Union government controls allocations.
• States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala have opposed the Bill, arguing that it undermines their interests and autonomy in rural development initiatives.
• A provision to avoid conflict between work and farming activities could be incorporated into MGNREGA after consulting with States, regardless of the new Bill.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Gram Swaraj: Gandhi's vision of village self-governance and decentralized local economies.
• Centrally Sponsored Scheme: A program funded by the Union government but implemented by States, with costs shared between them.
• Demand-Driven Scheme: A program where resource allocation is based on the needs and requests of the beneficiaries.