Union Budget 2026: Gandhi gets a recall via Gram Swaraj scheme

Amid controversy over the Father of the Nation’s name being dropped from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the FM on Sunday announced the launch of Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj scheme to strengthen khadi, handloom and handicrafts.“This will help in global market linkage and branding. It will streamline and support training, skilling, quality of process and production. This will benefit our weavers, village industries, One-District-One-Product initiative and rural youth,” the FM said, speaking about the scheme.Opposition has protested renaming of the MGNREGA to VB-G RAM G Bill (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin).FM proposed to set up Mega Textile Parks in challenge mode, to focus on bringing value addition to the textiles sector. She also announced several other schemes for the labour intensive sector. These include national fibre scheme for self-reliance in natural fibres such as silk, wool and jute, man-made fibres and new age fibres; textile expansion and employment scheme to modernise traditional clusters with capital support for machinery, technology upgradation and common testing and certification centres, a national handloom and handicraft programme to integrate and strengthen existing schemes and ensure targeted support for weavers and artisans.