The central government seems to be preparing for major changes in the rural employment policy. A proposal has come forward to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and bring a new law for rural employment. Copies of a bill in this regard have been distributed to Lok Sabha MPs. According to sources, this bill can be introduced in the current winter session of Parliament.

Proposal to bring a new law in place of MNREGA
According to the draft of the bill, the government is preparing to repeal the MNREGA Act of 2005 and replace it with ‘Developed India-Employment and Livelihood Guarantee Mission (Rural) Bill, 2025’. Its objective is said to be to redefine the rural employment system.

New mission related to the vision of ‘Developed India 2047’
The bill states that its objective is to create a strong rural development framework in line with the national vision of ‘Developed India 2047’. Under this, it is proposed to provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to the adult members of every rural family who voluntarily do unskilled manual labour.

The goal of rural India empowered by employment and prosperous
The objective of the new law is to promote rural empowerment and overall development through guaranteed employment and livelihood, so as to create a prosperous and capable rural India.

Bill may be presented in Parliament soon
This bill has been made available to the Lok Sabha members and it is expected to be introduced in the House soon. The winter session of Parliament will begin on December 1 and end on December 19.

MNREGA: The world’s largest work guarantee program
MNREGA was started by the Ministry of Rural Development in the year 2005. This is one of the largest employment guarantee programs in the world. By 2022-23, 15.4 crore active workers were registered under it. The objective of this scheme has been to address the root causes of poverty through a rights-based framework. There is a provision under MNREGA that at least one-third of the beneficiaries should be women. This has promoted women empowerment in rural areas.

Legal guarantee of work in 15 days
The most important feature of MNREGA is that there is a legal guarantee of providing employment to any rural adult within 15 days of seeking work. If this does not happen, there is also a provision for giving unemployment allowance. Panchayati Raj institutions were given a central role in the planning and implementation of works under MNREGA. Gram Sabhas got the right to suggest works and implementation of at least 50% of the works was made mandatory at the local level, which strengthened decentralization.

There is a ruckus in the country over the new Waqf law. Muslim organizations are opposing this law and demonstrations continue. The matter has reached the Supreme Court, which is likely to be heard soon. In such a situation, the question is that if the Supreme Court cancels the new Waqf Act illegal, can the Supreme Court’s decision be reversed? Today we will introduce you to those matters recorded in history, in which the government brought an ordinance and overturned till the Supreme Court’s decision. Let’s know about such cases …

Reservation case

The first case of overturning by bringing an ordinance to the Supreme Court’s decision came up in 1961. The Supreme Court had ruled in a case of reservation that the government cannot keep seats in educational institutions on the basis of religion or caste. The Constitution was amended in 1961 against this decision. Claus (4) was added to Article 15, under which the government had empowered to reserve seats for candidates of backward castes in educational institutions.

Indira Gandhi case

The second major case of overturning the Supreme Court’s decision through the Constitution amendment is related to former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi. In 1971, the election of Indira Gandhi from Rae Bareli was challenged in the Allahabad High Court. In her judgment, the court found Indira Gandhi guilty of rigging in the election and her election was canceled. The government brought the 39th amendment against this decision and Article 392A was added, which said that the election of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha speaker cannot be challenged in any court. Later the matter reached the Supreme Court, where the 39th amendment was declared illegal.

Shah Bano episode

Shah Bano, a resident of Indore, was divorced by her husband Muhammad Ali Khan, after which Shah Bano reached the Supreme Court to demand alimony. In 1985, the Supreme Court ruled that under Section 125 of CRPC, divorced Muslim women are entitled to receive alimony. In 1986, the government introduced the Muslim women actor 1986. Under this, Muslim women are not entitled to receive alimony. Divorced Muslim women are entitled to alimony till the completion of the three -month period of Iddat.

Case of transfer-posting of Delhi administrative officials

This matter related to the sharing of the powers of the Delhi government was very much discussed. On May 11, 2023, the Supreme Court ordered that the Delhi government has authority over the bureaucracy in Delhi and the government can transfer the officers. The government came with an ordinance against this decision of the Supreme Court, in which the right to transfer Delhi officials was given to the Lieutenant Governor.

Also read: What is ‘Hindu phobia’, against which the government of this country going to make laws