India, Dec. 17 -- The Union government sprang a surprise in Parliament this week by introducing the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G, to replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), a showpiece of the previous UPA administration. Beyond the obvious political overtones in renaming a project that once netted the Congress rich electoral dividends and engineering an abbreviation with ideological alignment with the ruling coalition, three aspects of the debate merit discussion.

One, the proposal expands the statutory guarantee of wage employment in every financial year from 100 days to 125 days, a welcome development in a country where chunks of ...