The Mahatma Gandhi Nationwide Rural Employment Assure Act (MGNREGA) is behind the newest political flashpoint in Punjab after the Aam Aadmi Occasion (AAP) authorities throughout a one-day particular parliamentary session on December 30 handed a decision opposing the Centre’s transfer to interchange it with the Vikshit Bharat Assure for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Grameen (VB-G-RAM-G) Act.
The decision has snowballed right into a broader debate on employees’ rights, corruption, federalism and electoral politics, with each the AAP and Congress evaluating it to the three now repealed farm legal guidelines. In current months, the Punjab authorities and the Heart have been at loggerheads over what they see as AAP’s encroachments on the state’s territory.
The decision accused the Heart authorities of undermining the livelihood safety of poor employees, ladies and Dalit households who’ve traditionally relied on job safety beneath MGNREGA.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP leaders described the Centre’s transfer as an try to “take bread from the poor” and dilute plans to offer very important financial help to rural households. AAP MPs introduced a letter purportedly written by MGNREGA officers to the Home highlighting their considerations over the brand new legislation. AAP additionally focused the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), accusing it of getting “shut ties” with the Bharatiya Janata Occasion.
“The SAD is swarming like a fish in the present day to forge an alliance with the BJP. In its thirst for energy, the celebration is ignoring the considerations of Punjab, farmers and employees,” AAP spokesperson Neil Garg stated, including that Akali Dal MPs didn’t suppose this particular session was price “opening up”.
Recalling how the SAD had “turned its again on farmers” throughout the protests towards the now repealed farm legal guidelines, Garg stated the “secret understanding” between the SAD and the BJP won’t earn the SAD any power or respect.
SAD referred to as the allegations “mischievous lies and politically motivated.” “The celebration has constantly expressed concern over MGNREGA’s corruption beneath each Congress and AAP governments and demanded an neutral investigation,” the celebration stated in an announcement, accusing the Mann authorities of “diverting consideration from its personal failures”.
The BJP additionally condemned AAP’s transfer to carry a particular assembly. “The AAP is indulging in propaganda to cover its failures. Improvement of a federal construction is feasible provided that the Heart and the states work collectively. However the AAP has at all times been confrontational,” stated Bharatiya Janata Occasion state president Sunil Jakhar.
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Jakhar referred to as on the Mann authorities to show its dedication to the poor, declaring that the CM himself had acknowledged corruption in MGNREGA however failed to deal with it.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed related views. Alleging that there have been 10,653 instances of economic irregularities within the implementation of the Rural Employment Assure Scheme, Chouhan stated there was no restoration but. “Social audits have been performed in solely 5,915 of over 13,000 gram panchayats within the state and regardless of repeated communications, the state authorities didn’t take any motion towards the erring officers and contractors,” he stated.
Punjab has 13,304 gram panchayats and 30.15 million MGNREGA registered employees this fiscal. Of those, 14.99 million are lively employees and have 1.19 million lively job playing cards. The common variety of days employed per family from April to December 2025 was 27.02, down from 37.63 days from 2024 to 2025. Solely 7.49 million households have acquired jobs up to now this yr.
The transfer to alter the identify of MGNREGA poses a problem to the BJP. It’s because it entails a good portion of girls and Scheduled Castes (SC), two social teams that the celebration has been actively attempting to woo within the state.
Whereas over 68 per cent of the workforce beneath the scheme within the state is ladies this fiscal yr, the celebration is intensifying its outreach to SCs by way of social welfare camps in villages whereas emphasizing the central authorities scheme.
Perceptions of dilution, substitution, or symbolic distance from the unique system danger alienating rural employees, ladies employees, and SCs.
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Regardless of labor organizations taking a cautious stance on the difficulty, MGNREGA employees have united beneath the banner of Sanjha Mazdoor Morcha (SMM) and launched a protest.
Rachaman Singh Sewewala, basic secretary of Punjab Keet Mazdoor Union, stated the letter handed over by AAP leaders was signed within the hope that it might be helpful to the employees. “However this train seems to be like knowledge assortment for a political celebration,” he added.
Questioning the AAP authorities’s seriousness on the difficulty, Pendu Mazdoor union president Tarsem Peter stated, “In the event that they have been severe, they need to have taken up the difficulty lengthy earlier than the invoice was handed in Parliament.”
Whereas the Congress has introduced that it’ll start its protest towards the Centre’s transfer on January 5, the state forces will launch the ‘Save MGNREGA’ motion from Gurdaspur on January 8.
“The brand new scheme changing MGNREGA can be a black legislation that the Bharatiya Janata Occasion is attempting to deprive of the livelihood of a whole bunch of 1000’s of rural poor and marginalized folks,” stated Amrinder Singh Raja Waring, Speaker of the Punjab Congress.
