From MGNREGA to G Ram G: Why The BJP Government’s Rebranding Strategy For Schemes And Laws

December 17, 2025

With the Cabinet approving legislation to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB-G Ram G Bill, 2025, the Narendra Modi government’s drive to rebrand laws, schemes, projects, and ministries continues.

Several patterns in this trend are evident. First, the renaming typically uses Hindi, reflecting the BJP’s broader cultural politics of elevating the language above English. Recently, this push for “decolonisation” a core ideological project of the Sangh was expressed in statements by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has repeatedly said that India should distance itself from Thomas Babington Macaulay’s legacy 200 years after he aimed to create “a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect”.

Another pattern shows that names of Nehru-Gandhi family members have been dropped from various schemes. Simultaneously, names like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who belong to the BJP-Jana Sangh’s political heritage, have been attached to certain programs. Additionally, some terminology linked to religious practices has been incorporated, such as naming the complex housing the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and other key executive bodies as “Seva Teerth”, with teerth referring to Hindu religious pilgrimage sites.

The Congress has accused the Modi government of renaming MGNREGA to take credit, calling the move “nothing but a cosmetic change to paper over the deliberate neglect being meted out to this scheme”. Criticizing the government, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said it was “an expert at renaming schemes and laws”.

He continued, “They renamed the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and the rural LPG distribution program to Ujjwala … They are experts in packaging, branding, and naming. Surprisingly, while they hate Pandit Nehru, they also seem to hate Mahatma Gandhi. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has been in effect since 2005… and now you are renaming it to Pujya Bapu Employment Guarantee Scheme. What’s wrong with the name Mahatma Gandhi?”

The Congress has posted on its website a list of 32 schemes that, it claims, were launched by Congress-led governments between 1975 and 2013, but were subsequently renamed by the NDA government.

Prior to Seva Teerth and the directive to rename Raj Bhavan and Raj Niwas across various states and Union Territories as Lok Bhavan and Lok Niwas, the government in September 2022 renamed the historic Rajpath, extending from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, as Kartavya Path. PM Modi inaugurated Kartavya Path on September 8, 2022, with the government stating that the renaming represented a transition from a symbol of power to an emblem of public ownership and empowerment.

In September 2016, the Prime Minister of India received a new address: 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, after the New Delhi Municipal Corporation decided to rename Race Course Road, asserting that it did not “match with the Indian ethos and value system”.

Some Schemes with New Names

The former rural housing scheme Indira Awaas Yojana, initiated by Rajiv Gandhi in 1985, was restructured as Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G) in April 2016.
The UPA-I government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in December 2005 for seven years, which was extended for a few more years until March 31, 2014. The government replaced it with the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, or AMRUT, on June 25, 2015, focusing on developing basic urban infrastructure.
The Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana for supplying electricity to rural households, launched in April 2005, was merged into the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana that was launched in Patna on July 25, 2015.

Ministry Name Changes

The Union Ministry of Shipping was renamed the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in November 2020.
The same year, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) became the Union Ministry of Education as recommended by the new National Education Policy, 2020. The ministry began as the Ministry of Education after Independence but was renamed MHRD on September 26, 1985, by the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Names of Laws

The IPC, 1860, CrPC, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, were replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), respectively, from July 1, 2024. Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated during the parliamentary debate that the sanhitas represent laws created by Indians for Indians, positioning it as part of a decolonisation effort.
The NDA government has named several Bills in Hindi: the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, which aims to establish an umbrella body with three councils to perform regulatory, standard-setting and accreditation functions for higher education.
The historic Women’s Reservation Act providing 33% reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies is now the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, 2023.
The government has also approved the SHANTI (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) Bill, 2025, to reform several overarching laws governing the country’s atomic energy sector.