India, Feb. 1 -- A new scheme named after Mahatma Gandhi was announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2026 in Parliament on Sunday, at a time when there's an ongoing row over the government's recent repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Sitharaman announced the launch of 'Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj' as a handloom-focused scheme and asserted that the government wants reforms in the textile industry, particularly the khadi, handloom, and handicraft sectors.

It's just been a few weeks that the MGNREGA-based job scheme was replaced by the BJP-led NDA government with a new scheme, under the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, or simply VB-...