Siddaramaiah urges PM Modi to suspend VB-G RamG Act, flags 'erosion' of employment rights
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to suspend the implementation of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RamG) Act, warning that the new law fundamentally weakens the employment guarantee framework and undermines cooperative federalism.
In a detailed letter to Modi on Tuesday, the Chief Minister expressed serious concern over the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), stating that the new legislation risks dismantling a demand-driven, rights-based entitlement that has served as a critical livelihood safety net for rural households.
“I wish to draw your kind attention to the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RamG) Act and the consequent repeal of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,” Siddaramaiah wrote, cautioning that the shift could defeat the very intent of an employment guarantee law.
“At the outset, I submit that the new law risks defeating the very intent of the original employment guarantee, a demand-driven, rights-based entitlement,” the Chief Minister said, while acknowledging that although the new Act increases the promised guarantee from 100 to 125 days, it does not provide assured planning or central funding to back that promise.
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Siddaramaiah pointed out that the VB-G RamG Act caps the union government’s financial responsibility to a ‘normative allocation’ for notified areas of each state, with the Centre contributing only 60 per cent of that allocation in most states.
“As a result, the so-called legal guarantee of 125 days is not absolute,” he said, adding that it is constrained by a centrally determined funding ceiling, leaving many gram panchayats without funds despite genuine demand.
The Chief Minister also objected to provisions that allow the Centre to determine state-wise normative allocations annually based on objective parameters that are neither embedded in the legislation nor fixed through consultation.
He warned that such parameters could be altered unilaterally and would fail to reflect diverse local needs across and within states.
“In effect, a demand-driven regime is being converted into a supply-driven, top-down system,” Siddaramaiah wrote, pointing out that the new framework runs contrary to the participatory approach under MGNREGA, where labour budgets originate at the gram panchayat level and allocations follow village-level demand rather than central convergence plans.
He stated that this diluted the constitutional vision of decentralisation under the 73rd Amendment.
Raising alarm over the revised funding pattern, Siddaramaiah said under MGNREGA, mainstream states followed a 90:10 Centre-State sharing arrangement, while the new Act shifts this to 60:40.
This, he said, converted a statutory guarantee into “a run-of-the-mill scheme” and imposed a heavy burden on state finances already strained due to GST compensation issues and inequitable financial devolution.
According to him, the provision making states fully liable for expenditure beyond their normative allocation could leave them facing 100 per cent financial responsibility for excess demand.
In such a scenario, he said, the guarantee would depend not on demand but on a state’s fiscal capacity, rendering the entitlement unenforceable.
Siddaramaiah also criticised the requirement to pre-notify a 60-day no-work period during peak sowing and harvesting seasons.
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While acknowledging increased agricultural activity during those months, he said a blanket restriction would hurt vulnerable groups who may not find adequate farm work.
He cautioned that this could reduce employment opportunities, suppress wages and worsen livelihood insecurity, leading to increased distress migration and reduced participation of women.
Summing up the changes, Siddaramaiah wrote that the new framework shifts the intent “from ‘right to work’ to ‘work only if permitted’,” and from year-round rural employment to restricted periods and locations.
He also voiced concern that increased reliance on technology and contractor-led projects could exclude the poorest, particularly Dalit and Adivasi communities.
Terming the implementation "arbitrary and hurried", the CM said the Act violates constitutional provisions requiring consultation with states and weakens the foundations of cooperative federalism.
Siddaramaiah also opposed the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the law, calling it a historic, globally acclaimed rights-based legislation rooted in Gram Swaraj and Antyodaya.
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MP HC sets up judicial commission to probe water contamination in Indore
Indore (PTI): The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday set up a commission of inquiry comprising a former HC judge to probe the issue of water contamination in city's Bhagirathpura, saying the matter requires probe by an independent, credible authority and "urgent judicial scrutiny".
It also directed the commission to submit an interim report after four weeks from the date of commencement of proceedings.
A division bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi constituted the commission while hearing several public interest litigations (PILs) filed simultaneously regarding the deaths of several people in Bhagirathpura due to the consumption of contaminated water.
The HC reserved the order after hearing all the parties during the day, and released it late at night.
The state government on Tuesday told the HC that the deaths of 16 people in Indore's Bhagirathpura area was possibly linked to a month-long outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea caused by contaminated drinking water.
The government presented an audit report of 23 deaths from the current gastroenteritis epidemic in Bhagirathpura before the bench, suggesting that 16 of these fatalities may have been linked to the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea caused by contaminated drinking water.
The report, prepared by a committee of five experts from the city's Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, stated that the deaths of four people in Bhagirathpura were unrelated to the outbreak, while no conclusion could be reached regarding the cause of death of three other people in the area.
During the hearing, the high court sought to know from the state government the scientific basis behind its report.
The division bench also expressed surprise at the state government's use of the term "verbal autopsy" in relation to the report, sarcastically stating that it had heard the term for the first time.
The HC expressed concern over the Bhagirathpura case, stating that the situation was "alarming," and noted that cases of people falling ill due to contaminated drinking water have also been reported in Mhow, near Indore.
In its order, the HC said the serious issue concerning contamination of the drinking water supply in Bhagirathpura area allegedly resulted in widespread health hazards to residents, including children and elderly persons.
According to the petitioners and media reports, death toll is about 30 till today, but the report depicts only 16 without any basis or record, it said.
It is averred that sewage mixing, leakage in the pipeline, and failure of civic authorities to maintain potable water standards have led to the outbreak of water-borne diseases. Photographs, medical reports, and complaints submitted to the authorities prima facie indicate a matter requiring urgent judicial scrutiny, the HC said.
"Considering the gravity of the allegation and affecting the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the need for an independent fact-finding exercise, the Court is of the opinion that the matter requires investigation by an independent, credible authority," it said.
"Accordingly, we appoint Justice Sushil Kumar Gupta, former judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, a one-man commission of inquiry into the issues relating to water contamination in Bhagirathpura, Indore, and its impact on other areas of the city," the HC added.
As per the order, the commission shall inquire into and submit a report on the cause of contamination -- whether the drinking water supplied to Bhagirathpura was contaminated; and the source and nature of contamination (sewage ingress, industrial discharge, pipeline damage etc).
The panel will also probe the number of actual deaths of affected residents on account of contaminated water; find out the nature of disease reported and adequacy of medical response and preventive measures; suggest immediate steps required to ensure safe drinking water as well as long-term infrastructural and monitoring reforms.
It will also identify and fix responsibility upon the officers and officials found prima facie responsible for the Bhagirathpura water contamination incident, and suggest guidelines for compensation to affected residents, particularly vulnerable sections.
The commission shall have powers of a civil court for the purpose of summoning officials and witnesses; calling up records from the government department, hospitals, laboratories and civic bodies; ordering water quality testing through accredited laboratories; conducting spot inspections.
All state authorities involving district administration, Indore Municipal Corporation, public health engineering department and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board shall extend full co-operation and provide records as sought by the commission, it said.
The state government shall provide office space, staff, and logistical support to the commission, it said.
During the hearing in the day, the state government also presented a status report to the court in this matter.
According to reports, a total of 454 patients were admitted to local hospitals during the vomiting and diarrhea outbreak, of whom 441 have been discharged after treatment, and 11 are currently hospitalised.
According to officials, due to a leak in the municipal drinking water pipeline in Bhagirathpura, sewage from a toilet was also mixed in the water.
