India, Dec. 19 -- The Parliament has passed the new VB-G RAM G Bill that will replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA on Thursday. The bill was passed as the Rajya Sabha continued till midnight amid protests and walkouts from the opposition.

The new bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment every year, with Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asserting that it was needed to fix shortcomings in the old scheme.

Several members of the opposition staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha during the passage of the Bill after calling for its withdrawal and raising slogans against the ruling NDA government.

The opposition parties also sat on a dharna outside the Samvidhan Sadan in the Parliament complex against the new bill.

In response to the oppositi...