Stiglitz, Piketty, other economists urge Centre to restore MGNREGA: 'To dismantle it now would be a historic error'

The earlier scheme was especially beneficial for the marginalized sections of the society as half the workers were women and around 40 percent came from scheduled castes or tribes, the letter noted

Top global economists, experts and a Nobel Laureate have come out in support of the now-repealed Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), urging its restoration in an open letter.

The 20-year-old law has now been replaced with the newly introduced Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM G Bill) that was hurriedly passed by the Central government in both Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on December 18.

The new law was criticized by experts and Opposition members not just for the way it was passed in the Parliament, but also for the key fundamental changes that have the potential to sound the death knell for the foundational principle of the original law.

“We, the undersigned scholars, policymakers, lawyers, and civic actors (all friends of India), write to express profound concern regarding the imminent repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). We urge a recommitment to this landmark legislation, which stands as the world’s most significant policy operationalizing a demand-driven, legal right to employment,” a group of experts, including Nobel economics prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz, economist Thomas Piketty said in an open letter to the government.

The letter said MGNREGA was passed with “unanimous parliamentary support” and it “transcends all political lines”. The experts further said that the Act affirmed “economic dignity as a fundamental right” and empirical evidence underscores the impact of the rural jobs scheme.

The previous law was able to generate more than 2 billion person-days of work routinely for over 50 million households, the letter noted. The scheme was especially beneficial for the marginalized sections of the society as half the workers were women and around 40 percent came from scheduled castes or tribes.

“However, chronic underfunding and payment delays have long hampered implementation. The current shift to devolve the scheme to states and without commensurate fiscal support, now threatens its existence. States lack the central government’s financial capacity,” the letter pointed out. “To dismantle it now would be a historic error,” the letter warned.

The letter was drafted by Levy Economics Institute and, apart from Piketty and Stiglitz, it was signed by Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Isabelle Ferreras, Research director FNRS, Professor University of Louvain (UCLouvain), James Galbraith, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas, Darrick Hamilton, Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, New School for Social Research, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, President and Professor of Economics, The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College and a few others.

Read the full letter here.