The Karnataka Congress government is gearing up to oppose the new Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. After the central government moved to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Karnataka’s Cabinet strongly condemned the change. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will announce the state’s plan on Saturday. Government sources said employment and labour fall under the concurrent list, so Karnataka can create its own laws to guarantee rural jobs. "There is a possibility that the State will have its own legislation or scheme to implement the rural employment guarantee. As it is the Centre is not providing much to the State under the NREGA. There could be an andolan (movement) against the new Act that heavily favours the contractors," a source said. The Cabinet met and discussed the consequences of scrapping MGNREGA. Law Minister H.K. Patil said, "The Constitution 73rd amendment had sought decentralisation of powers and encouraged bottom to top approach in rural development by providing powers to panchayats. Karnataka has also enacted Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act to this effect." He criticized the new Act for centralising power, saying "The new Act seeks to centralise powers. It will now decide which panchayat can take what kind of work to be implemented. Also, it increases the financial burden on the State. Currently, under the rural employment guarantee scheme, a large number of assets at the village level had been created." Patil added that the Centre took away the Right to Work and the new law would benefit contractors more than workers. Karnataka is looking to protect rural employment and panchayat powers with its own scheme and possibly a state law. The fight over rural livelihoods is just beginning.