‘Centre pushing anti-poor agenda under guise of MGNREGA overhaul’

Chandigarh: Punjab Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday accused the BJP-led Centre of pushing an “anti-poor” agenda under the guise of MGNREGA overhaul and claimed that the VB-G RAM G Act seeks to strip the poor of their right to livelihood.

Unpaid dues under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) exceeding Rs 23,000 crore expose the reality behind the BJP’s claims of reform, Cheema said in a statement issued here.

His remarks came a day after the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution against the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, accusing the BJP-led Centre of taking away the livelihoods of the poor and Dalit labourers by scrapping MGNREGA as part of a “deliberate conspiracy”.

Cheema said by shifting 40 per cent of the financial burden onto the states and “hollowing out” the rights-based structure of the scheme, the BJP has effectively “liquidated” the employment guarantee and “weakened” India’s federal framework.

While the Punjab Assembly stood firmly with workers against these moves, the Congress-led states chose silence, he said.

Cheema hit out at the BJP leadership for “falsely” citing the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj 2024-25 to justify its actions.

He claimed that the committee, chaired by Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, never recommended renaming the scheme based on religion or introducing restrictive changes.

Instead, it had called for the immediate release of pending funds, he said.