Bandi Sanjay defends VB-G Ram-G scheme, says Telangana to gain ₹340 crore
Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday defended the VB-G Ram-G scheme and said Telangana would receive ₹340 crore more under the revised employment guarantee programme.
Addressing a press conference in Karimnagar, Sanjay accused the Congress of opposing the scheme for political reasons. He described the criticism as “despicable politics” and said the Centre had strengthened the programme to benefit workers and farmers alike. He said the scheme guaranteed 125 days of work annually while also helping farmers overcome labour shortages during peak agricultural seasons.
The Minister said the Centre would spend an additional ₹17,000 crore this year under the programme. He added that the total national outlay now stood at ₹1.51 lakh crore. According to him, the revised scheme would significantly improve rural livelihoods while boosting asset creation in villages.
Sanjay said the earlier version of the employment guarantee scheme cost around ₹86,000 crore every year. However, he claimed it failed to create durable assets. In contrast, he said, the VB-G Ram-G scheme focused on long-term village infrastructure based on resolutions passed by gram sabhas.
VB-G Ram-G scheme focuses on village asset creation
The Minister said administrative allocations under the scheme had increased from 6% to 9%. He added that implementation would now rely more on local decision-making rather than top-down control. He clarified that the Centre would guide states but would not interfere in execution.
Sanjay said states could exempt up to 60 days of work during farming seasons. This provision, he said, would protect agricultural livelihoods. He added that, on average, people could access close to 200 days of employment in a year by balancing farm work and scheme-related jobs.
Criticising the Congress, the Minister said the party opposed the scheme only because Mahatma Gandhi’s name was no longer attached to it. He reminded Congress leaders that their governments had renamed several schemes in the past. He cited the renaming of the Vajpayee Awas Yojana to Indira Gandhi Awas Yojana and the change of NTR Airport to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
“Is asset creation wrong? Is supporting farmers wrong? Or do you want Telangana to lose ₹340 crore?” he asked.
Sanjay also targeted the previous BRS government over district reorganisation. He accused former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao of creating districts arbitrarily to benefit family members. He warned the Congress government not to repeat the same approach. He demanded that any future reorganisation should follow an all-party meeting and public consultation.
