AIKKMS urges Centre to withdraw VB-G RAM-G Act, continue earlier scheme

Members of the All India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Sanghatan (AIKKMS) on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to the President and the Chief Minister through the Chief Executive Officer of the Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat demanding withdrawal of the proposed Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevik Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM-G) Act 2025 and continuation of the erstwhile Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

In the memorandum, the organisation has urged the governments to enhance guaranteed employment under the NREGA from 100 human workdays to 200 human workdays a year and ensure a daily wage of ₹600 for workers.

The AIKKMS leaders said that rural people are facing severe hardship due to rising agricultural input costs, falling crop prices, drought, natural calamities and environmental changes and these factors have weakened agriculture and forced many rural residents to migrate to urban areas in search of livelihood.

They said that the proposed VB-G RAM-G Act will dilute the legal guarantee of employment available under the NREGA and adversely affect agricultural workers and rural poor.

Under the existing NREGA provisions, employment has to be provided within 15 days of demand, they said.

The organisation also criticised the proposed shift in financial responsibility between the Centre and States in the implementation of the scheme, contending that it can affect allocation of funds and execution of employment programmes.

AIKKMS district president Ganapat Rao K. Mane and other leaders were present.