"Immoral To Remove Gandhi": Shashi Tharoor Bats For Congress In G Ram G Row

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor came out swinging Tuesday against the Bharatiya Janata Party's move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme – enacted by the party-led UPA government in 2005 – with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha this afternoon, Tharoor opposed the new bill, dubbed G Ram G, which offers 25 extra days of paid work but puts 40 per cent of that financial burden on states.

Tharoor – whose relationship with the Congress is on thin ice after positive remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, particularly after Operation Sindoor – also called it "immoral" to remove Gandhi's name and simultaneously urged the government to not "sully Ram's name".

He made that point on X last night, though not without confusion, "Replacing the Mahatma's name in a scheme for the rural poor ignores this profound symbiosis (between Gandhi's vision for self-governing villages and that of 'Ram Rajya', or a period of idealised governance) …"

"Let us not dishonour his legacy by creating a division where none existed."

RECAP | 'Let's Not Dishonour Mahatma's Legacy': Tharoor On MGNREGA Row

The Thiruvananthapuram MP wasn't the only opposition leader to oppose the government's move.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called for the bill to be withdrawn, questioning the 'craze' to change every scheme's name and pointing to the money costs incurred each time.

"A bill should not be passed in haste… this bill must be withdrawn," she said, pointing also to the fact MGNREGA had been running successfully for 20 years to strengthen the rural economy.

READ | "Mahatma Not From My Family, But...": Priyanka Gandhi Leads G Ram G Row

And when a MP from the treasury benches made a "family" remark, she hit back, "Mahatma Gandhi is not from my family, but he is like my family... the entire country feels the same way!"

Priyanka Gandhi also demanded the bill be sent to a standing committee.

MGNREGA vs G RAM G

In essence, the former is sponsored by the central government. That means 100 per cent of the wages paid to unskilled workers are from its pocket. States bear a fraction of total expenses.

Differences between the old and new rural employment guarantee schemes.

The G RAM G bill changes that funding structure, requiring states to bear 40 per cent of the overall costs, and opposition leaders, including those from a key BJP ally – Andhra Pradesh's ruling Telugu Desam Party – have objected to this, citing increased burden on state finances.

READ | On G Ram G Over MGNREGA Bill, Congress Asks "Problem With Bapu?"

The ratio for northeastern and Himalayan states, however, will be 90:10, while union territories will be funded completely by the central government This means that out of the total proposed expenditure - an estimated Rs 1.51 lakh crore annually -  the Modi governemnt will now fund only Rs 95,692 crore.

However, sources in the government told NDTV the G RAM G bill is, in fact, aligned with the larger 'Viksit Bharat 2047' vision, as is the shift to normative funding from a demand-based model, which means it will now aligns with the budgeting model used for most central government schemes.