While MGNREGA’s repeal may have been dramatic, over the last decade, the Modi government has moved to systematically weaken the UPA-era law through budget cuts, delay in payments and forced technocracy
As 2025 drew to a close, the Narendra Modi government moved to repeal and replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act. While the repeal of the Act has been met with criticism, a look at the last decade shows the world’s largest guarantee for 100 days of work in rural areas, was systematically weakened – from reducing its budgetary allocations, introducing Aadhaar-based payment systems that resulted in job card deletions and workers exclusion, delays in payments, to finally changing the two-decade-old law itself without any prior consultation.
by Sravasti Dasgupta
31/12/2025