The Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kalaburagi protested on Wednesday against the Centre’s new VB-G RAM G Bill, which aims to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). CPI(M) district secretary K. Neela said the bill is an attempt to remove the legal guarantee of rural employment. She accused the BJP-led government of cutting MGNREGA budgets for years and now replacing the scheme with one that denies assured jobs. Neela highlighted India’s rising rural unemployment, agriculture distress, and heavy debt on families. She claimed the Centre’s policies benefit corporate groups while increasing poverty and inequality. “India’s poverty ranking has worsened, but a few corporations have grown richer and national income is concentrated in few hands,” she said. She also said the country faces a debt trap that burdens common people. About the VB-G RAM G Bill, Neela said it limits job guarantee by confining work to certain areas and times, centralises control, and weakens gram panchayats. She warned this will take away rural people’s right to work. CPI(M) demanded the Centre withdraw the Bill immediately and strengthen MGNREGA by increasing workdays and wages to protect rural livelihoods.