The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday passed a resolution moved by Chief Minister MK Stalin opposing the Centre’s proposed renaming of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The resolution urged the Union government to retain Mahatma Gandhi’s name for the rural employment scheme and to ensure adequate and continuous allocation of funds in line with actual employment demand and state-wise performance.
It underscored that the ‘Right to Work’ of rural citizens must be protected and highlighted the importance of the programme for women, persons with disabilities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, who it described as primary beneficiaries.
It criticised the Centre’s current practice of making what it called “arbitrary fund allocations based on notional estimates" and sought a return to the earlier system in which funds were released based on real demand for work.
The resolution also objected to the proposed increase in the state government’s contribution to 40 per cent under the renamed scheme, Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-G-RAM-G), warning that such a move would significantly strain state finances and undermine rural livelihoods.
ANNAMALAI HITS BACK
Soon after the resolution was passed, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister Stalin in a post on X, accusing the DMK government of failing to fulfil its election promises and politicising Centre-State issues.
Claiming that less than 10 per cent of the DMK’s assurances had been implemented, Annamalai questioned the state’s stand on PM Shri schools under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, delays in infrastructure projects and criticism over delimitation, saying Union Home Minister Amit Shah had already clarified that southern states would not lose constituencies.
Annamalai also targeted the state government over law and order, the MGNREGA workday promise, construction of AIIMS Madurai, disaster relief utilisation, metro rail project DPRs, the Keezhadi excavation report and opposition to NEET.
He said the Centre had already released disaster funds, said AIIMS Madurai would open this year, and accused the DMK of repeatedly blaming the Governor for administrative lapses, urging Stalin to focus on governance rather than what he described as daily political confrontations.
CHAOS IN TAMIL NADU ASSEMBLY
The passage of the resolution came amid a charged political atmosphere in the Assembly this week.
The House had already witnessed high drama during the inaugural session of the year, when Governor RN Ravi declined to read out the DMK government’s prepared text, citing “inaccuracies," and walked out.
Stalin accused the Governor of disregarding constitutional provisions and legislative traditions, and said the DMK would consult like-minded parties on pursuing a constitutional amendment in Parliament if such incidents continued.
Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami separately alleged that the Opposition was denied the opportunity to raise pressing public issues, including farmers’ distress, problems in the poultry sector affecting nearly 40,000 farmers and five lakh workers, and the spread of chikungunya.
He said the AIADMK had sought permission to raise these matters during Zero Hour, but was prevented from doing so.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tamil Nadu, Stalin also launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Centre, reiterating his objections to the proposed changes to the rural employment scheme.
In a post on X, he questioned when the Rs 3,458 crore Samagra Shiksha education fund due to the state would be released, sought assurances that Tamil Nadu’s constituencies would not be reduced in delimitation, criticised the role of the Governor, and raised concerns about financial allocations for the Tamil language.
Stalin further asked when the Centre would abandon the renamed VB-G-RAM-G, which he said imposed a heavy burden on states and threatened rural livelihoods, and pressed for clarity on stalled infrastructure and healthcare projects, disaster relief funds, the release of the Keezhadi report and the long-pending demand for NEET exemption.
The resolution also followed a heated debate in the Assembly a day earlier, during discussions on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.
The ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK clashed over the future of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), with AIADMK MLA Thangamani alleging that the Governor’s address hinted at discontinuing the scheme and accusing both the Centre and the state government of diluting it.
Rural Development Minister I Periyasamy countered that the BJP-led Union government was systematically weakening the programme, noting that while the Centre once bore the entire cost, it had now shifted to a 60:40 funding pattern and removed Mahatma Gandhi’s name.
Palaniswami accused the DMK of failing to fulfil its election promise to raise the number of workdays, while Stalin maintained that only the Union government had the authority to extend employment under the scheme.
