West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced that her government would rename the state’s rural job guarantee scheme after Mahatma Gandhi, launching a sharp attack on the BJP-led Centre for replacing the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) with the new VB-G RAM G scheme.

Speaking at a business and industry conclave at the Dhana Dhanya auditorium here, Banerjee said the move was aimed at upholding respect for national icons, which she claimed some political parties had failed to do.

“I feel ashamed that they have decided to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the NREGA programme, because I too belong to this country. Are we now forgetting even the Father of the Nation?” she said, a day after the Lok Sabha passed the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025.

Without naming the BJP directly, Banerjee said, “If some political parties failed to show respect to our national icons, we will do it.”

She announced that the state’s rural employment scheme, Karmashree, would now be renamed after Mahatma Gandhi.

“We will now rename the Karmashree scheme of our state after Mahatma Gandhi, because if they can’t show respect to our national heroes, we will,” she said.

Banerjee added that West Bengal knew how to honour national figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, B.R. Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad.

Taking aim at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies, the chief minister said India’s strength lay in unity and harmony, not division.

Taking aim at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies, the chief minister said India’s strength lay in unity and harmony, not division.

“I want a long life for our Prime Minister, but I am sorry to say, please don’t do anything wrong which may lead to a backlash or a befitting reply in future,” she said. “Our country will remain strong only if we remain as one. If we are divided as communities, our nation will be divided.”

She stressed that peace, harmony, friendship and humanity — values espoused by India’s political and religious leaders — were the real solutions to the country’s problems.

Referring to the state-run Karmashree scheme, Banerjee said West Bengal was already providing up to 75 days of employment to beneficiaries, even as she accused the Centre of blocking funds under MGNREGS.

“We have already created lots of workdays under Karmashree, which we are running with our own resources. Even if central funds are stopped, we will ensure people get work. We are not beggars,” she said.

The chief minister added that the state government planned to increase the number of workdays under Karmashree to 100 in the future.

The remarks come amid a growing political row over the Centre’s decision to repeal MGNREGA and replace it with the VB-G RAM G scheme, with several opposition parties alleging that the new law dilutes the rights-based employment guarantee and shifts the financial burden onto states.

With PTI inputs