Bandi Sanjay defends ‘VB-G Ram-G’ scheme, says Telangana to get ₹340 crore boost

Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday strongly defended the Centre’s new VB-G Ram-G employment guarantee scheme, stating that Telangana would receive ₹340 crore more under the revised programme. He accused the Congress of engaging in “despicable politics” by opposing the initiative for political reasons.

Speaking at a press conference in Karimnagar, Sanjay said the scheme would ensure 125 days of guaranteed work annually while helping farmers address labour shortages during agricultural peaks. He said the Centre would spend ₹17,000 crore more this year, with a nationwide outlay of ₹1.51 lakh crore.

VB-G Ram-G scheme to create durable village assets

Sanjay claimed that the earlier version of the employment scheme, despite costing ₹86,000 crore annually, had failed to create lasting assets. In contrast, the VB-G Ram-G scheme aims to deliver “permanent village infrastructure” based on decisions taken by gram sabhas. He said administrative allocations had been raised from 6% to 9%, and implementation would be driven by local communities.

He clarified that the Centre would guide but not control the states, which can now exempt up to 60 days of work during farming seasons to protect agricultural livelihoods. “On average, people will have access to nearly 200 days of work in a year,” he said.

Congress questioned for politicising the scheme

The Minister criticised Congress leaders for opposing the scheme due to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name. He reminded them that previous Congress governments had also renamed schemes, including changing Vajpayee’s VAMBAY housing scheme to Indira Gandhi Awas Yojana and NTR Airport to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

“Is asset creation wrong? Is helping farmers wrong? Or do you want Telangana to lose ₹340 crore?” he asked.

Warns Congress on district reorganisation

Sanjay also attacked the previous BRS government over arbitrary district formation. He accused former CM KCR of carving out districts like “family property” to favour relatives. He cautioned the Congress government against repeating that approach and demanded an all-party meeting and public consultation before making any changes.