By Tripura24.in Bureau
AGARTALA | July 3, 2026: Intensifying the political struggle for rural livelihood security, the Paschim District Committee of the Tripura Khet Mazdoor Union (Tripura Agricultural Labourers’ Union) today staged a massive mass sit-in (Gana-Abhashan) demonstration in front of the City Center in Agartala. The protest was organized to voice strong opposition against the newly implemented central rural labor frameworks.
The agricultural labor wing placed a primary demand before the administration to instantly restore the full operational scale of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and unconditionally withdraw the newly launched VB-G-RAM-G scheme.
Backlash Against the New National Labor Law
The demonstration arrives in the immediate wake of a sweeping nationwide legislative shift, as the new central structural guidelines governing rural livelihoods officially came into effect across India on July 1, 2026. The union leaders claimed that the introduction of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G-RAM-G) framework is a strategic attempt to phase out the legally binding 100-day work guarantee under MGNREGA.
Addressing the gathering of hundreds of field-level agricultural workers and daily wagers, senior union executives criticized the government for trying to replace guaranteed manual wage labor with complex corporate-style micro-enterprise models.
”The central government’s new law, which has been forcefully made effective nationwide from July 1, is a direct attack on the survival of agricultural laborers. MGNREGA has been the structural lifeline for poor rural families in Tripura for decades. By pushing the VB-G-RAM-G scheme and reducing standard manual labor allocations, the administration is driving landless peasants toward starvation. We will not tolerate this corporate shift in rural welfare. Our sit-in today at the City Center is just the beginning; if MGNREGA work is not completely restored with fair daily wages, we will call for a total rural strike across the state,” a senior Khet Mazdoor Union leader stated.
Key Demands Framed by the Khet Mazdoor Union
Following the mass assembly, a formal deputation containing specific execution demands was submitted by the West District committee to the appropriate administrative channels:
- Unconditional Revival of MGNREGA: Immediate restoration of standard daily wage manual labor projects in all village blocks with a minimum mandate of 100 days of guaranteed work.
- Scrapping of VB-G-RAM-G: Total withdrawal of the newly rolled out Viksit Bharat Rozgar and Aajeevika framework from the state’s rural planning layout.
- Clearing Pending Wage Arrears: Fast-tracking the direct-benefit transfer pipelines to clear all multi-week wage backlogs owed to rural laborers.
- Fair Minimum Wage Adjustments: Upward revision of daily wages under state-sponsored rural works to match the rising inflation index.
The protest concluded with union volunteers raising slogans against the socio-economic policies of the ruling alliance, vowing to step up block-level picketing from next week.
