Shivraj Chouhan hits out at Cong's 'AI-generated' campaign against VB-G RAM G Act
The minister accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of abandoning their party's 'idea, ideology and ideal'
Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Chouhan on Monday hit out at the Congress for spreading "AI-generated misinformation" campaign against the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, which was introduced by the Centre last year.
Speaking at a press conference, the minister accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of abandoning their party's "idea, ideology and ideal".
"The Congress should desist from spreading canards about the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB—G RAM G) Act, 2025. The party cannot strengthen its connect with the masses by spreading lies. It is hell-bent on painting the Act in a negative light."
"The opposition party's use of artificially generated information and images to hoodwink people on the Act is a worrying trend. The Centre's fact-check units have asked for detailed answers from the party on the matter," he said. The VB-G RAM G Act aims to align rural employment with the long-term vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, while strengthening accountability, infrastructure outcomes and income security. It seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA).
Chouhan claimed that the Congress only gave "rights on the paper", while the current BJP dispensation ensured that the "rights of workers do not remain only on paper".
"The Congress said that MGNREGA has so far created 10 crore job days, but 8.5 crore of these were generated under the Narendra Modi regime. The Centre has spent Rs 1.11 crore for better utilisation of MGNREGA. With the VB-G RAM G Act, the BJP government plans to strengthen grassroots democracy where elected gram panchayats will decide the work projects rather than the state government dictating the terms," he told the media briefing.
"The government has also been instrumental in removing the disentitlement clause of the Act, thus making the legislation more people-friendly," he added.
The Union minister also tried to debunk the Congress narrative of the Act affecting the employment opportunities for Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribes (ST) and women.
"The weaker sections of the society, the divyaang (specially abled), women and children are the priority segments of the BJP regime. The VB-G RAM G Act mandates 125 days of work rather than the 100 days promised under MGNREGA. Apart from this, unemployment allowance is also provided. It is in no way a barrier to job opportunities for women or other communities," he asserted.
Asked if the 60-40 ratio of Centre-state fund sharing for the scheme has been accepted by all states, the rural development minister said the states need to step up and invest in rural India.
On many opposition parties, besides the Congress, protesting against the Act and even passing resolutions in state assemblies, Chouhan said, "MGNREGA was a demand-driven model where the state decided the projects and the gram panchayats and other local bodies had no say. The VB-G RAM G Act aims to change that by giving more power in the hands of the stakeholders involved in grassroots democracy."
The Congress has accused the BJP of weakening the role of gram sabhas in the new rural employment law, and harming villages and the poor of the country. Rahul Gandhi had said that the Act was not a revamp of MGNREGA, but a fundamental dilution of its core principles
"It demolishes the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee and turns it into a rationed scheme which is controlled from Delhi. It is anti-state and anti-village by design," he had said in a social media post.
