Punjab Vidhan Sabha passes resolution demanding continuation of MGNREGA & opposing changes made by Union Govt
CHANDIGARH: During the special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said the newly rechristened ‘Viksit Bharat – Guarantee Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G)’ is aimed at snatching food, jobs and dignity from Dalits, women and the poorest families. He asserted that by rushing the new law through Parliament within just 14 hours, the Union government has hollowed out the very soul of the rights-based Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
Demanding its immediate rollback, the Chief Minister said the move exposes the BJP’s anti-Punjab mindset, rewards favoured industrialists at the cost of the common people of the country, and raises a fundamental question about how India can aspire to be ‘Vishav Guru’ or ‘Viksit Bharat’ while depriving the weakest sections of their basic right to food and livelihood, while also calling out the Akali Dal’s studied silence as deliberate and opportunistic.
Winding up the debate during special session convened to discuss the issue, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the centre has killed the basic spirit of the MGNREGA scheme by changing its name to ‘VB-G RAM (G)’, which takes away the right to guaranteed wages / employment from poor workers, women, and lakhs of job card holding families and imposes an additional financial burden on the states. “Earlier MGNREGA, which was carefully conceived by former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, was introduced after years of deliberations. However, now VB-G RAM G has been passed by the Parliament only within a few hours, ” he noted.
The Chief Minister said that unfortunately the Union government has changed the basic character of the scheme as the MGNREGA was demand driven scheme whereas VB - G RAM G is a norm based scheme, which is not in the interest of people. “During the last financial year, under the MGNREGA scheme implemented in Punjab, the participation of women has been registered at 60% and that for Scheduled castes, it has been 70%, meaning thereby majority of the beneficiaries under the MGNREGA scheme have been belonging to the most marginalised sections of the Society, ” he pointed out.
As such, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that with the implementation of the provisions of the new Act, the economic condition of such marginalised sections will worsen with the lack of employment opportunities.
So, the Chief Minister said that the provisions of the new Act are aimed at weakening both the SCs and women socially and economically, resulting in widening of inequality causing further avoidable distress. “The Union government's act is totally aimed at snatching food from the common man who have been immensely benefited from the MGNREGA scheme. Earlier the weaker sections got assured employment through the scheme but now this purpose will be defeated, ” he added.
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said that in reality BJP is suffering from anti-Punjab syndrome due to which they take the decisions against the interests of the state with every passing day.
The Chief Minister said that for the coming eight months Akalis will be mute spectators to all the misdeeds of the BJP led Union government in hope of getting an alliance.