Punjab Assembly passes resolution against G RAM G

The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the Union Government’s move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with a new law named Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin). The Assembly expressed concern that the new scheme withdraws the legally guaranteed right to employment and wages for poor labourers, women, and lakhs of job card–holding families in the state, while also imposing an additional financial burden on the states.The resolution was moved by Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond, who noted that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed by the Government of India in September 2005 and implemented across all districts of Punjab during 2008–09. The scheme was subsequently renamed MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) on October 2, 2009.

In contrast, although the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-G RAM G) mentions 125 days of employment, the guarantee is tied to a normative budget and limited financial arrangements, making it merely notional. Under the new framework, employment will no longer be demand-driven but will depend on allocations made by the Union Government based on predetermined plans and budget limits. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said the newly rechristened scheme is aimed at “snatching food, jobs, and dignity” from Dalits, women, and the poorest families. He alleged that by rushing the legislation through Parliament within just 14 hours, the Union Government has hollowed out the very soul of the rights-based MGNREGA.

Congress MLA Pargat Singh said there was no need to hold the special session, and that his party legislators were ready to travel to Delhi with AAP leaders to confront the Centre. “The state government has provided only 28 days of employment under MGNREGA this year, and the daily wages offered are lower than Haryana. By changing the financing structure of the scheme and asking states to contribute 40 per cent of the funding, the Centre has tried to throttle financially stressed states,” he said.

BJP MLA Ashwani Sharma defended his party, but had left the House when the resolution was passed. Sharma claimed “several scams” were detected in MGNREGA in Punjab and asked why no social auditing was done in over 6,000 villages.

SAD Chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said the Mann government in Punjab is running an event management company, not a real government. The AAP govt has convened multiple special sessions but has done ZERO follow-up on the resolutions passed including those on BBMB, RDF, drugs and flood relief & rehabilitation, he said. The Shiromani Akali Dal demands the AAP govt tell what it will do to benefit the VB G RAM G beneficiaries instead of indulging in sham propaganda exercises.