Renaming MGNREGA will cost lot of government resources: Priyanka Gandhi

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday (December 13, 2025) responded to the reports of renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as the Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Scheme, saying that a lot of government resources are spent on the renaming process, citing it as “unnecessary.”

Speaking to reporters, the Congress MP said she doesn’t understand the rationale behind the decision to rename the MGNREGA scheme, which she says brings unnecessary costs. “I can’t understand what mentality is behind this. First, this is Mahatma Gandhi’s name, and when it is changed, the government’s resources are spent on it again. From offices to stationery, everything has to be renamed, so this is a big, costly process. So what’s the benefit of doing this unnecessarily? I can’t understand,” she said.

Earlier today, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also criticised the Centre over reports of a likely name change to the MGNREGA scheme, calling it a “distraction” to mislead the public and disrespect the name of the Gandhi family.

Ms. Chaturvedi said, “Because of the frustration, such decisions are being made. This is another way to distract attention. The discussion of 150 years of Vande Mataram has helped the public understand which version of history is the WhatsApp version and which is the real one. That is why those who believe in WhatsApp will be annoyed with the Gandhi family. Those who know the true history will always respect the Gandhi family for their contributions.”

MGNREGA is an employment scheme under the Ministry of Rural Development that provides at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled work. Any Indian citizen aged 18 or above and residing in a rural area can apply to this scheme.

The applicant receives guaranteed employment within 15 days of the date of application. The wage is deposited directly into the Bank Account / Post Office Account of the applicant. Wages are paid within a week or fifteen days at most. Men and Women are paid equally. MGNREGA covers the entire country with the exception of districts that have a hundred percent urban population.