Gurdaspur/Tanda, January 8
Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Thursday launched a sharp and wide-ranging attack on 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. He was addressing public gatherings at Gurdaspur and Tanda as part of the MNREGA Bachao Sangram launched by the Congress party.
Bajwa recalled that nearly two decades ago, India took a historic step by enacting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)—not as a charity-driven welfare scheme, but as a legal right guaranteeing work, wages and dignity to rural households, particularly Dalits and women. He said the law was the outcome of 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 clear and unambiguous—work is not charity, work is a right,” Bajwa asserted.
Highlighting the achievements of MGNREGA, Bajwa said the Act transformed rural India by guaranteeing 100 days of employment, raising rural wages, reducing poverty, empowering women and checking distress migration. He pointed out that household incomes rose significantly and poverty declined sharply in areas where the scheme was implemented in letter and spirit. MGNREGA, he added, acted as a crucial lifeline during crises such as droughts and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Leader of the Opposition accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre of systematically weakening this constitutional right since 2014 through chronic underfunding, delayed wage payments and the creation of administrative hurdles. Despite rising demand for work, allocations have stagnated, wage arrears have piled up and the average number of workdays has fallen far below the statutory guarantee. “This is not an administrative lapse; it is a deliberate strategy to hollow out a rights-based law,” Bajwa said.
Coming down heavily on the newly introduced VB G-RAM-G Bill, Bajwa said it was forced through without consultation or meaningful parliamentary debate. He warned that the Bill converts a demand-driven legal entitlement into a centrally controlled, allocation-limited scheme, dilutes federalism, shifts the financial burden onto states and strips workers of enforceable rights. “It reflects the same arrogance that the country witnessed during the imposition of the now-repealed farm laws,” he remarked.
Bajwa also strongly criticised the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab for convening what he described as stage-managed special sessions of the Vidhan Sabha. “The AAP has reduced the Assembly to optics. These sessions are meant for headlines, not accountability. Critical issues like the dilution of MGNREGA require serious debate, scrutiny and legislative action—not symbolism,” he said.
Bajwa urged the Punjab government to rationalise expenditure, curb wasteful spending on publicity, make adequate budgetary provisions to sustain rural employment and challenge the unconstitutional provisions of the new law in the Supreme Court. Taking a jibe at the Centre’s control over the scheme, Bajwa said, “This is no longer G-RAM-G. It has become G-Modi-G, where states are forced to depend entirely on the Centre for funds and even for deciding what works will be undertaken.”
“MGNREGA was a social contract rooted in the Constitution. Diluting it is an assault on dignity, federalism and the right to life. This fight—for the poor, for states’ rights and for constitutional values—will continue,” Bajwa asserted.
