India, Dec. 29 -- Renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) into the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural) Bill, dubbed "G RAM G" and pushed through Parliament in a truncated and contentious process in both Houses, is not a semantic exercise. It is a political intervention with questionable material, constitutional, and ideological objectives, and with serious consequences for the rural poor. What is being attempted is not merely a change in nomenclature, but a restructuring that delivers a substantial blow to social justice while simultaneously advancing the majoritarian agenda of the ruling party.

The comparison between MGNREGA and G RAM G exposes the nature of this sh...