Punjab government to hold special assembly session against replacement of MGNREGA with VB G RAM G

CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government will convene a special session of the state assembly next month to protest the replacement of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB G RAM G), which it views as the union government’s “attempt to hit the livelihoods of the poor.”Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said, “The BJP government at the Centre is trying to hit the livelihoods of the poor by replacing the MGNREGA scheme. A special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha will be called in the second week of January to raise the voice of Punjabis against this oppression.”The decision to convene the special assembly session was taken by the party’s top leaders, including AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday evening. Kejriwal is currently on a three-day tour of the state. The previous special session of the Vidhan Sabha, held on November 24, was prorogued by the Governor on December 17.Meanwhile, several unions have begun protesting against the replacement of MGNREGA with VB G RAM G. Lachman Singh Sewewal, general secretary of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Unions, said protests were held yesterday in Bathinda, Moga, Muktsar, Faridkot, and Sangrur, where effigies of the Central Government were burnt. He added that the change in the scheme would remove assured employment in rural areas and was being introduced to erase the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi.The VB G RAM G Bill was recently introduced in Parliament and passed amid protests by opposition MPs. Since the new funding model will require states to contribute financially, its implementation could pose a challenge for cash-strapped states like Punjab.Punjab AAP spokesperson Neel Garg alleged that the union government has relied on hollow slogans and political theatrics to mislead the public while systematically eroding welfare guarantees for the poorest.“This is not merely a change of name, nor about removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name. The real issue is that the Centre has effectively sounded the death knell for MGNREGA and is trying to hide its anti-labour agenda behind manufactured TV debates and distractions,” he said.



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