Centre renames MGNREGA as VB-G RAM-G; Karnataka opposes and plans legal challenge

The Centre has renamed the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (NREGA/MGNREGA) as the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), shortened to VB-G RAM-G. MGNREGA is India's flagship rural job-guarantee law, which promises up to 100 days of paid manual work a year to every rural household whose adults are willing to do unskilled labour. Karnataka has opposed the change but said it will still implement VB-G RAM-G from 1 July, even as it explores legal options.

Karnataka's Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, Eshwar Khandre, said the new scheme places a heavier burden on the state's finances. He pointed out that the state funded 4,821 crore rupees out of 56,492 crore rupees spent on NREGA, generating 182 crore man-days between 2006 and 2026, and that this year alone the state expects to spend 3,806 crore rupees of a proposed 5,709 crore. The state plans to question the scheme in the Supreme Court, signalling friction between the Centre and the state.

A central demand is higher wages. The minister urged the Centre to raise the current wage of 375 rupees per day, arguing this had become necessary after the state revised its minimum wages. Wage-setting and cost-sharing are recurring flashpoints in such welfare schemes, since the Centre and states often disagree on who should pay how much.

The episode is a clear example of Centre-state friction over a welfare scheme, touching on fiscal federalism, the division of funding responsibility and the politics of renaming flagship programmes. The minister said scheme-related issues would be raised at a meeting with the Union Rural Development Minister on 28 June.

Aspirants should remember the original name (MGNREGA, backed by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, guaranteeing 100 days of work), the new name VB-G RAM-G, and the federalism angle of wages and funding shares. Note Karnataka's plan to approach the Supreme Court.