MAPUSA
Village panchayats across Goa have been instructed to convene special gram sabhas on December 26, a day after Christmas, to publicise the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025, the Central government’s new rural employment law that replaces MGNREGA, drawing attention to the top-down manner in which the reform is being rolled out at the grassroots level.
The directive, issued by the Directorate of Panchayats through a memorandum to all village panchayats, has left elected village bodies with little room for discretion, even as the timing clashes with the Christmas festival week – a period when gram sabhas are traditionally avoided to ensure maximum public participation.
Senior officials in the Directorate of Panchayats confirmed that the instruction originated from the government and that panchayats were expected to comply.
“It is a Central government programme and the directions have come from the government. We have communicated this to all village panchayats,” a senior official said, requesting anonymity.
The episode has highlighted a governance tension between Central policy priorities and local self-government, with sarpanchas acknowledging that while gram sabhas are meant to be forums of participatory democracy, the decision on when to hold them was effectively pre-decided.
Aldona Sarpanch Ashwin D’Souza said the panchayat had no alternative but to go ahead with the meeting.
“Since there is a government direction, we have to hold the gram sabha,” he said.
Colvale Sarpanch Dashrat Bicholkar echoed similar concerns, noting that festival periods are usually avoided for statutory meetings.
“Normally gram sabhas are not held during festivals. But if the government insists, we are helpless,” he said.
Calangute panchayat secretary Arjun Velip confirmed receipt of the memorandum and said the special gram sabha would be convened as directed.
According to the Centre, the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 represents a comprehensive overhaul of MGNREGA, aligning rural employment with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision while promising improved accountability, durable infrastructure creation and income security.
However, the decision to roll out awareness of the new law through a uniform, date-specific directive has raised questions about whether panchayats are being reduced to implementing agencies rather than autonomous institutions of local governance.
The special gram sabhas scheduled on December 26 are expected to serve as the first formal platform at the village level to explain the implications of the new Act, even as concerns persist over participation levels and the broader political messaging around the phasing out of MGNREGA, a flagship welfare programme for nearly two decades.
