Last Updated on December 27, 2025 11:42 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Andalib Akhter / New Delhi
The Congress on Saturday announced a nationwide agitation to oppose the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), accusing the Narendra Modi government of undermining the rights of the poor and weakening India’s federal structure.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in the national capital, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party would launch the “MGNREGA Bachao Andolan” from January 5, 2026, to demand the rollback of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025, which replaced the rural jobs scheme.
Kharge described MGNREGA as more than a welfare programme, calling it a constitutional guarantee of the Right to Work. “MGNREGA is not just a scheme but a right given to the poor people of this country. Its repeal is meant to oppress the weakest sections,” he said, warning that public anger over the decision would force the government to face political consequences.
He also criticised the Centre for what he termed a unilateral move, saying states would now have to bear additional financial burdens. “This is a one-sided decision taken without any consultation with state governments. It will impose extra expenditure on states and harm rural livelihoods,” Kharge said.
Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of dismantling MGNREGA without due process or wider discussion. “The Prime Minister has single-handedly destroyed MGNREGA without consulting his Cabinet and without studying the impact. This is a devastating attack on poor people and on states, carried out in the same manner as demonetisation,” he alleged.
He said MGNREGA was not merely a work programme but a development framework that had earned global recognition for strengthening rural infrastructure and providing livelihood security. “The repeal of MGNREGA is an attack on the rights-based approach and on India’s federal structure. It weakens the idea that citizens have enforceable social and economic rights,” Gandhi said.
The Congress leaders asserted that the new VB-G RAM G Act fails to offer the legal guarantee and protections that MGNREGA provided, and vowed to mobilise workers, farmers and state governments across the country to press for its withdrawal.
The party said details of the protest programme would be announced in the coming days as it prepares to take the issue to the streets and Parliament.