Kolkata, 15 December (H.S.): The controversy surrounding the renaming of the 100-day work scheme has intensified again. The central government had planned to replace Mahatma Gandhi with Pujya Bapu in the name of the MGNREGA scheme. A bill in this regard was scheduled to be introduced in Parliament on Monday. However, on Monday morning, it was observed that the proposed bill's name was being changed again, with the term Pujya Bapu also being removed. The name listed was VB- G RAM G- Bill 2025. This has fueled speculation in political circles that the BJP-led central government is cleverly trying to replace all references to Mahatma Gandhi and Bapu with Ram.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief state general secretary Kunal Ghosh raised his voice against this on X (formerly Twitter). He alleged, Is the Modi government completely erasing Mahatma Gandhi's name? The new bill doesn't even include the name 'Pujya Bapu'. Is the name 'Ram' being cleverly inserted? *VB- G RAM G- Bill.
Kunal Ghosh also stated that if Gandhi's name is completely erased in this manner, there will be protests.
The issue of renaming the 100-day work scheme for rural employment, or the 'Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act' (MGNREGA), surfaced last week. During the parliamentary session, it was reported that the name Mahatma Gandhi would be removed from the scheme and it would be renamed Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Guarantee. The number of workdays was also to be increased from 100 to 125 days.
A bill in this regard was scheduled to be introduced in Parliament on Monday. However, in the list of four bills to be introduced that day, the name of this scheme – 'Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural)' – was listed alongside 'VB- G RAM G- Bill 2025'. Notably, the acronym for the entire scheme's English name is VB-G RAM G, which is currently at the center of a major controversy. Many are questioning whether the central BJP government is trying to erase the name of the Father of the Nation from this scheme for the poor and replace it with the name of Ram.
The ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal has clearly stated that if this attempt is true, there will be strong protests. Kunal Ghosh said in his post, The name of 'Revered Bapu' is being erased from the 100-day work scheme! Before the proposal for the new name was presented in Parliament, the name 'VB-G RAM G Bill- 2025' was seen written.
This controversy has heated up in political circles, and opposition parties have termed it an attempt to erase Gandhi's legacy.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey
