Overview
- The Telangana Cabinet sub‑committee, chaired by N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, met in Hyderabad on Saturday and recommended reaching out to Karnataka and Kerala to explore a coordinated legal and political response to the VB‑G Ram G Act.
- The panel told the State Legal Department to conduct a detailed review and has scheduled the matter for the full State Cabinet on July 2 to choose between adopting the central framework, enacting a state law, filing a Supreme Court challenge, or a mix of measures.
- Legal experts reported multiple constitutional problems to the committee, saying the draft law appears to encroach on state powers over labour, rural development and financial allocations and contains provisions that may not survive judicial scrutiny.
- Nearly 20 civil society groups urged Telangana to make its own employment guarantee law, warning the central proposal could cost the state about ₹2,500 crore and reduce paid work for thousands of agricultural labourers.
- MGNREGA is a long‑standing federal rural employment guarantee and the proposed replacement raises core federalism questions because funding, job allocation and labour oversight involve both the Centre and states.