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The Telangana government has decided to move the Supreme Court against the BJP-led Union government’s Viksit Bharat-Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission Guarantee (Gramin) Act (VB-G RAM-G), arguing that the new rural employment law weakens the legal framework of the earlier Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and was introduced without consulting the states. However, the State will also apply the law.
The state government is expected to file a petition alleging that the new law alters the nature of the rural employment guarantee and undermines the role of states in implementing the programme. He also plans to argue that the legislation could lead to duplication of schemes, administrative complications and reduced effectiveness in providing rural employment.
Briefing reporters after a cabinet meeting on Thursday, July 2, Telangana Information and Public Relations Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy mentioned the state assembly resolution against VB-G-RAM-G in January.
He said the state government’s cabinet sub-committee on the issue, headed by Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, submitted its report, which was discussed exhaustively in the cabinet. “The cabinet decided to go to the Supreme Court to protect our rights, while accepting the plan,” he said.
The Union government this week launched the VB-G RAM-G scheme as the new framework for rural employment, replacing the MGNREGA. The plan promises 125 days of guaranteed work a year, higher wages and greater use of technology, while introducing stricter financial oversight of states’ spending. The controversy around VB-G RAM G centers on the BJP government replacing the MGNREGA programme, which critics say eliminates the legally guaranteed right to work by making it a budget-capped scheme.
