Congress criticises dilution of grievance redressal rules in rural employment scheme

The Congress has strongly criticised the Central Government for weakening the grievance redressal mechanism under the rural employment programme 'Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Gramin)'. Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh stated that the government has turned one of India's most important rights-based laws into a mere administrative scheme. It is noteworthy that this programme replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in July this year.

Reacting to a report in The Hindu, Mr. Ramesh stated that the government has removed several important provisions from the draft rules circulated in May, which were part of the previous rural employment programme. In a post on X, he wrote that the government had an opportunity to strengthen the mechanisms for addressing violations of the programme's provisions, but instead, it has completely removed those avenues.

According to Jairam Ramesh, the final VB-G RAM G Grievance Redressal Rules published by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) on 2 November 2026 have significantly diluted several important provisions present in the May 2026 draft rules. He highlighted five main points regarding these changes.

First, the provision for penalties for failing to resolve grievances within the stipulated timeframe has been removed. The draft rules clearly stated that failure to dispose of a complaint within seven working days would be considered a violation of the law and action would be taken under Section 27, but this provision has been deleted from the final rules. While a timeframe now exists, there is no clear provision to fix the accountability of officials who fail to adhere to it.

Second, the responsibility to initiate criminal proceedings in cases of financial irregularities has been removed. According to the draft, if prima facie evidence of financial irregularities was found in the findings of a preliminary inquiry or social audit, it was mandatory for the District Programme Coordinator (DPC) to seek legal advice and lodge an FIR and take necessary action, which has now been completely removed.

Third, the provision for mandatory oversight by elected Panchayati Raj institutions has been removed. The draft required that the action taken on grievances be presented before the meetings of the Intermediate and Zila Panchayats for review and monitoring, but the removal of this provision has weakened democratic oversight of grievance redressal.

Fourth, the requirement for mandatory days to accept grievances once a week has been removed. According to the draft, officials at every level were to be available to accept grievances on at least one fixed day a week, which has now been removed. This will make it difficult for workers to know when and where to contact officials.

Fifth, the provision to create dedicated grievance redressal desks has been removed. The draft mandated that grievance redressal desks be established in every block and district for registering complaints and providing information on the implementation of the law, but this provision has also been excised from the final rules. Mr. Ramesh described the entire process as equivalent to snatching away the rights of workers and people, reducing their right to a mere 'jumla'.