Chandigarh, December 19
The Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Friday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Union government over its move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the proposed “VB G RAM G” scheme, terming it a deliberate, ideologically driven attempt to dismantle the statutory right to work.
Bajwa said the move was not a routine policy adjustment but a direct assault on the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and a calculated rollback of one of independent India’s most transformative social security legislations. He warned that shifting MGNREGA from 100 per cent central funding to a 60:40 Centre–State cost-sharing formula would place an unbearable fiscal burden on states already under severe financial stress.
“This decision arms the Centre with yet another tool to discriminate against Opposition-ruled states by arbitrarily curtailing funds. It strikes at the very foundation of cooperative federalism and threatens to cripple a crucial employment lifeline for rural India,” Bajwa asserted.
Highlighting Punjab’s financial challenges, the senior Congress leader said the BJP has consistently squeezed Opposition-ruled states by withholding the Rural Development Fund (RDF) and delaying GST compensation. “Punjab and several other states were forced to fight for their legitimate GST dues. In such a hostile fiscal environment, imposing additional financial liabilities will only push cash-starved states deeper into economic distress,” he said.
Bajwa said the BJP’s policy shift would disproportionately hurt society’s most vulnerable sections. “Dalits, landless labourers and marginalised rural workers will bear the brunt of this regressive decision. This is not reform—it is ideological vandalism and an unapologetic attack on social justice,” he stated.
Reiterating the historical significance of MGNREGA, Bajwa said the landmark legislation was enacted by the Congress-led UPA government under the leadership of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and went on to earn global recognition as a pioneering rights-based model to address rural unemployment and distress migration.
“Driven by its pro-corporate and pro-ultra-rich agenda, the Modi government has systematically hollowed out MGNREGA over the years, eroding its spirit and undermining a lifeline that has sustained millions of rural families. This betrayal of rural India will not be forgotten,” Bajwa added.
