During the special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said the newly rechristened ‘Viksit Bharat – Guarantee Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G)’ is aimed at snatching food, jobs and dignity from Dalits, women and the poorest families. He asserted that by rushing the new law through Parliament within just 14 hours, the Union government has hollowed out the very soul of the rights-based Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
Demanding its immediate rollback, the Chief Minister said the move exposes the BJP’s anti-Punjab mindset, rewards favoured industrialists at the cost of the common people of the country, and raises a fundamental question about how India can aspire to be ‘Vishav Guru’ or ‘Viksit Bharat’ while depriving the weakest sections of their basic right to food and livelihood, while also calling out the Akali Dal’s studied silence as deliberate and opportunistic.
Winding up the debate during special session convened to discuss the issue, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the centre has killed the basic spirit of the MGNREGA scheme by changing its name to ‘VB-G RAM (G)’, which takes away the right to guaranteed wages / employment from poor workers, women, and lakhs of job card holding families and imposes an additional financial burden on the states. “Earlier MGNREGA, which was carefully conceived by former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, was introduced after years of deliberations. However, now VB-G RAM G has been passed by the Parliament only within a few hours,” he noted.
The Chief Minister said that unfortunately the Union government has changed the basic character of the scheme as the MGNREGA was demand driven scheme whereas VB - G RAM G is a norm based scheme, which is not in the interest of people. “During the last financial year, under the MGNREGA scheme implemented in Punjab, the participation of women has been registered at 60% and that for Scheduled castes, it has been 70%, meaning thereby majority of the beneficiaries under the MGNREGA scheme have been belonging to the most marginalised sections of the Society,” he pointed out.
As such, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that with the implementation of the provisions of the new Act, the economic condition of such marginalised sections will worsen with the lack of employment opportunities.
So, the Chief Minister said that the provisions of the new Act are aimed at weakening both the SCs and women socially and economically, resulting in widening of inequality causing further avoidable distress. “The Union government's act is totally aimed at snatching food from the common man who have been immensely benefited from the MGNREGA scheme. Earlier the weaker sections got assured employment through the scheme but now this purpose will be defeated,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that instead of giving guarantee of MSP to the farmers on crops, the Union government has now snatched the guarantee given to the labourers for the work by their predecessors, which will cause a lot of distress. “This act is the game plan of the Union government just to corner the benefit to his blue eyed industrialists for whom even the trips of the Prime Minister in the foreign countries are also planned. It is ironic that the people sitting in cozy offices at the National capital will plan for development works in the villages of the state,” he added.
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that in reality BJP is suffering from anti-Punjab syndrome due to which they take the decisions against the interests of the state with every passing day.
Citing the decisions of the Union government on Chandigarh, Panjab University, BBMB and others, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that every move of the Union government is aimed at looting the interests of the people. “It is due to its anti-Punjab mindset that the Modi government is hell bent on ruining the state by taking a series of decisions to harm the interests of Punjab,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that God forbid if the will of BJP led NDA government prevails then they will omit the name of Punjab from the national anthem also. “The Union government has been repeatedly indulging in such step motherly acts with the people of the state as they are against Punjab and Punjabis. The Union government first deprived the SC youth of avenues in the Army by launching the Agniveer scheme and now the changing of the scheme is another assault on their kitchen,” he highlighted.
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, “On one hand friends of Sahib like Adanis are getting one or other subsidy whereas on the other hand the budgets of the pro-poor schemes are being reduced on the name of fiscal management by the Modi government. ‘Master of phraseology’ is just playing with the numbers to fool the people about these schemes; this will not be tolerated. Rather than changing the name of the scheme, the Union government should have focused on the welfare of people.”
He questioned how India can become Vishav Guru or Viksit Bharat by depriving the poor of food and other basic civic amenities adding that this is really condemnable. Quipping on the silence of Akali Dal over the issue, the Chief Minister dared the Akali leaders to explain why they are maintaining stoic silence over the BJP leaders uploading cartoons of great Guru sahibans on their social media handles. “Apparently the Akali leadership is tight lipped as they are waiting for the opportunity to strike an alliance with the saffron party before the assembly polls,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that for the coming eight months Akalis will be mute spectators to all the misdeeds of the BJP led Union government in hope of getting an alliance.
He also assailed the BJP leaders from the state for their silence over the issues pertaining to Punjab and Punjabis adding that they are not loyal to people of the state. “It is a conspiracy of the Union government to snatch food from the poor sections of the society through this scheme adding that the state government will never allow the nefarious designs of the centre to succeed,” the CM said.
Listing pro-poor initiatives of the Punjab government, the Chief Minister said that for the state government has given reservation to the SC lawyers in AG office of the state adding that seats have been reserved for SC students in flying schools of Amritsar and Patiala to empower the weaker and underprivileged sections of the society.
Taking a jibe over Congress leaders, he said that leaders like Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi speak for the welfare of the people whereas the Congress leaders are just concerned about their vested interests. “Rather than stopping low in politics, the entire Punjab should join hands to vehemently oppose this anti-poor move of the Union government,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that we are the A team of the public and will take every step for the well being of the state and its people. He cautioned the Union government to refrain from taking such anti-people actions else the people of the state will not allow them to enter the villages. “The Punjab government will oppose this bill tooth and nail adding that it will not succeed the Union government in these evil designs,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that the Union government is hell bent upon depriving the weaker and underprivileged sections which will not be allowed at any cost. “This is a direct assault on the dignity and pride of the Schedule Caste brethren which cannot be tolerated. This move of the centre is unwarranted and undesirable adding that the state government is a custodian of the rights of the Punjabis and no one will be allowed to rob them,” he added.
The Chief Minister also slammed the Congress party for indulging in cheap tactics to derail the issue adding that the Congress should clear its stand whether they accept the new scheme or not. “The Congress party wants to just run away from the debate on pretext of one reason or another as they are having an aristocratic mindset. It reflects the anti-poor stance of the Congress and their connivance with the BJP due to which they don’t want to discuss this issue,” he added.
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that it is unfortunate that when the house should have discussed the anti-poor tirade being unleashed by the Union government, the Congress is indulging in such tantrums. “Congress has been wiped out from the political scene of the country, and the real face of the Congress has been exposed. The leader of Congress has been spitting venom against the prominent SC leaders of their own party which is a reflection of their feudal mindset,” he asserted.
Lashing out at Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the CM Bhagwant Singh Mann described him as a power hungry politician, who is keen on getting the attention from the people. “Sukhpal Singh Khaira indulges in cheap tantrums to hog media limelight especially when the party, in which he is in, is contemplating the change of leadership. Instead of raising the issues of state and its people, the Congress MLA is more concerned with personal publicity due to which he even doesn’t hesitate to violate decorum of the house,” he concluded.
*Punjab Assembly condemns dismantling of MGNREGA as an assault on Dalit survival and dignity*
The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution moved by Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond. The resolution recorded that the BJP-led Union government’s actions amount not merely to an administrative rollback but to a direct assault on the livelihood, dignity, and survival of Dalit workers and poor Dalit families.
The House affirmed that MGNREGA was the last economic lifeline that enabled Dalit workers to find employment in their villages, educate their children, and live with self-respect. It held that dismantling the scheme reflects a deeply anti-Dalit mindset and will force Dalits to migrate to urban jhuggi settlements in search of survival.
The resolution further stated that by undermining MGNREGA, the BJP forfeits any moral authority to seek Dalit votes. It also flagged the silence of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on the issue as culpable.
The House therefore demanded the immediate reversal of the decision, the full restoration of MGNREGA in its original rights-based form, and a guaranteed assurance of work and timely wages. The resolution concluded by reiterating that the Punjab Assembly stands firmly with Dalits and the working poor.