The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, but the decision led to intense protests and chaos in Parliament. Opposition parties strongly opposed the bill, accusing the government of disrespecting Mahatma Gandhi and weakening the existing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which has been a key rural welfare scheme for years.

Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defended the new law during an eight-hour debate in the House. He claimed that Mahatma Gandhi’s name was added to the original NREGA scheme by the Congress party only for political reasons ahead of the 2009 general elections. According to Chouhan, the scheme was initially called NREGA and did not include Gandhi’s name. He argued that the current government has implemented the programme more effectively under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chouhan also said that the Modi government is following Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals through various welfare schemes such as PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, and Ayushman Bharat. He accused the Congress of failing to uphold Gandhi’s principles and using his name only for political gain. Responding to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s criticism about renaming schemes, Chouhan pointed out that many programmes were earlier named after Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.

The opposition, however, reacted angrily to the passage of the bill. Several MPs rushed to the well of the House, shouted slogans against the government, tore copies of the bill, and threw them towards the Speaker’s chair. Due to the uproar, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House for the day after the bill was passed.

Earlier, opposition MPs had also staged a protest march inside the Parliament complex, demanding that the bill be withdrawn. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge described the legislation as an insult to Mahatma Gandhi and said it weakened the right to work, which had helped bring economic change in rural India. Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi also joined the protests at Makar Dwar.

Despite the protests, the bill was cleared. Under the new law, the government promises a legal guarantee of 125 days of wage employment every year to rural households whose adult members are willing to do unskilled manual work. States have been asked to update their existing schemes to match the new law within six months of its implementation.