Hyderabad: BC Finance Corporation Chairman Nuthi Srikanth Goud on Monday accused the BJP-led NDA government of attempting to erase the MGNREGA legacy by replacing the rural jobs law with a new employment framework.
He criticised the passage of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission–Gramin Bill, 2025, calling the move a historic blunder rather than a routine policy change. According to him, the decision reflected a deliberate political attempt to dismantle one of India’s most significant rights-based welfare laws.
Goud said the replacement weakened the MGNREGA legacy by moving away from a demand-driven legal guarantee to a supply-driven mission approach. Although the scheme proposed an increase in guaranteed workdays from 100 to 125, he argued that workers no longer retained a legally enforceable right to demand employment.
He also objected to the revised 60:40 funding ratio between the Centre and states. He said the change placed an additional financial burden on states already under fiscal stress, without adequate central support.
MGNREGA legacy diluted under new employment mission
The chairman warned that operational changes under the new framework could disrupt rural livelihoods. He pointed to digital attendance systems, mandatory geotagging, and seasonal pauses in work as measures that could harm landless labourers who depended on continuous wage income.
Goud further alleged that the removal of MGNREGA was part of a broader pattern of renaming welfare programmes to erase associations with the Nehru-Gandhi family. He said this approach undermined historical contributions to India’s welfare architecture.
According to him, the attempt to recast welfare reform as political rebranding risked weakening trust in rural employment guarantees, especially ahead of elections.
