Majhi defends VB-G RAM G, criticises MGNREGA corruption

Bhubaneswar: CM Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday defended the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee Rozgar Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Act, saying it is designed to protect the rights of farmers and workers while rooting out corruption that plagued the earlier MGNREGA, which it replaces.Addressing a news conference at the state BJP office in the presence of party president Manmohan Samal, Majhi accused opposition parties of deliberately maligning the new job guarantee programme. He said MGNREGA was marred by scams in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, failed to deliver 100 days of guaranteed employment, and was used by the UPA to exploit Mahatma Gandhi’s name for political gains.Majhi noted that although the UPA associated Mahatma Gandhi’s name with the rural job scheme in 2009, no fundamental changes were made to the scheme that existed prior to that.

Over the years, the programme failed to create permanent assets and could not meet its core promise of 100 days of work, averaging only 50 days between 2021 and 2025. He attributed the shortcomings to administrative flaws and seasonal constraints.Citing examples, Majhi pointed out that a Rs 6,000 crore scam rocked Bihar in 2012, fake job cards led to a Rs 10,000 crore fraud in Uttar Pradesh in 2011, and in Odisha’s Sambalpur district, jobs were fraudulently issued in 2024 to deceased persons, the sick, and pensioners.

The CM said the new programme addresses these flaws and genuinely strives to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Swarajya without misusing his name for political purposes. He added that VB-G RAM G leverages technology to curb corruption and guarantees 125 days of work to beneficiaries, compared to 100 days under the earlier scheme. The initiative, he said, aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India by 2047.Ensuring that wages reach genuine beneficiaries and focusing on projects that build permanent rural assets such as roads, irrigation facilities, and community infrastructure, the CM said the dual emphasis on rooting out corruption and strengthening asset creation would make the new scheme a true instrument of rural empowerment.