The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Union government to continue with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to ensure that the right to work of persons living in rural areas is protected, PTI reported.

Chief Minister MK Stalin, while moving the resolution, said that the 2025 Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin Act that replaced the MGNREGA was “designed in a manner that undermines the livelihoods of rural people across India, the financial structure of the states, the self-reliance of the local bodies and employment opportunities for the rural women”.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief said that Opposition parties had objected to the new Act, adding that he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the new law on December 18.

However, the Union government passed it without regard to the voice of the public, he added.

The 2025 VB-G RAM G Bill, replacing the MGNREGA, was given assent by the president on December 21, two days after it was passed by Parliament amid protests by Opposition parties.

The MGNREGA was introduced in 2005 by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and aimed at enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural areas. The scheme guaranteed 100 days of unskilled work annually for every rural household that wants it, covering all districts in the country.

Under the new law, the number of guaranteed workdays will increase to 125, while states’ share of costs will rise to 40%. The Union government will continue to bear the wage component, with states sharing material and administrative expenses.

The legislation has drawn criticism from economists and labour rights experts.

Apart from Tamil Nadu, the Assemblies in Telangana and Punjab have also adopted resolutions demanding that the Union government retain the MGNREGA. The Karnataka Cabinet has decided to move the Supreme Court against the VB-G RAM G Act.

On Friday, Stalin said that all initiatives, whether an infrastructure project or a scheme to provide livelihood, had been implemented efficiently without discrimination in Tamil Nadu, PTI reported.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief claimed that the Union government was not releasing funds based on progress of a project. The Centre was deliberately avoiding the immediate release of funds, showing a “step-motherly” attitude towards the development of the state, he alleged.

Referring to the MGNREGA, the chief minister added that Rs 1,026 crore for wages and Rs 1,087 crore for material components remain unreleased, PTI reported.

“Who is affected due to the delay of the funds,” the news agency quoted him as asking. “It is the common people and farmers living in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu.”

Why is there discrimination against our state, Stalin asked.

The chief minister added that under the VB-G RAM G Act, employment was not provided as a right but was based on a provisional allocation determined by the Union government. The name of Mahatma Gandhi has also been removed and replaced in the Act with ulterior motives, he added.

“This House insists that the scheme must continue under the name of Mahatma Gandhi to forever commemorate the principles and the path he laid out for this nation,” the news agency quoted him as saying in the Assembly.

“This House unanimously urges the Union government to ensure that the Right to Work of rural people is upheld as per [MGNREGA] and that funding is guaranteed based on the demand for employment,” he added.

The chief minister said that the Union government should abandon the “new practice of arbitrary financial allocation based on ‘provisional estimates’ and continue the previous practice of demand-based funding”.

He added that the funding ratio should be revised to match the MGNREGA contribution pattern.

BJP criticises adoption of resolution

Later on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party questioned the adoption of the resolution in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, asking whether it had the constitutional authority to do so when the law had been passed by Parliament, The Hindu reported.

Speaking to reporters, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi asked if any district panchayat or municipal corporation had the authority to pass a legislation saying they would not follow the state laws.

“If not, the same logic applies in this case as well,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “And I would like to ask [Congress leader] Rahul Gandhi ji whether the Constitution is in danger if an Act of Parliament is being openly defied by a state Assembly”.

The Congress is an ally of the DMK.

Tamil Nadu is expected to head for Assembly elections in the next three to four months.