CHANDIGARH: 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.
He said the objective of MGNREGA was to enhance livelihood security by mandatorily providing guaranteed wage employment of at least 100 days in a financial year to adult members of every rural household willing to undertake unskilled manual work.
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.
Demanding an immediate rollback of the law, Mann said the move exposes the BJP’s “anti-Punjab mindset,” rewards favoured industrialists at the cost of common citizens, and raises a fundamental question about how India can aspire to be a ‘Vishav Guru’ or ‘Viksit Bharat’ while depriving its weakest sections of their basic right to food and livelihood. He also criticised the Shiromani Akali Dal’s silence on the issue, calling it deliberate and opportunistic.
Winding up the debate during the special session convened to discuss the issue, Mann said the Centre had killed the basic spirit of MGNREGA by changing its character. “Earlier, MGNREGA—carefully conceived by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh—was introduced after years of deliberations. However, VB-G RAM G has been passed by Parliament within just a few hours,” he said.
He further noted that while MGNREGA was a demand-driven scheme, VB-G RAM G is norm-based, which he said is not in the interest of the people.
After the session, Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa criticised both the BJP-led Union Government and the AAP government in Punjab, accusing them of jointly undermining the constitutional right to work, federalism, and the dignity of the poor.
Bajwa said that nearly two decades ago, India took a historic step by enacting MGNREGA—not as a charity-driven welfare scheme but as a legal right guaranteeing work, wages, and dignity to rural households, especially Dalits and women. He recalled that the law emerged after a year-long consultative process involving workers’ unions, social movements, economists, Parliament, and the Prime Minister’s Office, and enjoyed rare bipartisan consensus. “That consensus was unambiguous—work is not charity; work is a right,” he said.
Bajwa also criticised the AAP government for convening what he described as optics-driven special sessions. “The AAP has reduced the Vidhan Sabha to symbolism. These stage-managed sessions are meant for headlines, not accountability. Serious issues like the dilution of MGNREGA demand real debate, scrutiny, and legislative action,” he said.
Meanwhile, Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party President Sunil Jakhar said the Assembly session convened by the AAP government was an attempt to create bitterness between the Centre and the state for political gain. He alleged that AAP was indulging in propaganda to cover up its failures and said that development in a federal structure is possible only when the Centre and states work together, whereas AAP has consistently adopted a confrontational approach toward the Centre.