Rural Development & Panchayats Minister Tarunpreet Sond moved resolution
Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh-
The Punjab Vidhan Sabha today unanimously passed a resolution moved by the Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond decrying the move by Government of India (GoI) for replacing of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the new Act titled Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin). The new scheme takes away the right to guaranteed wages/employment from poor labourers, women and lakhs of job card–holding families of the State and imposes an additional financial burden on the States.
The Minister pointed out that National Rural Development Guarantee Act was passed by the Government of India in September 2005 and it was implemented in all districts of Punjab in the year 2008-09. The scheme was subsequently renamed on 2nd October 2009, by the Government of India as MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). The objective of the MGNREGA scheme is to enhance livelihood security by mandatorily providing guaranteed wage employment of at least 100 days in a financial year to the adult members of every household in rural areas who are willing to do unskilled manual work.
Sond further divulged that the MGNREGA is a landmark and globally recognized law within India's framework for social welfare and rural economic security, which has established employment as a legal right for the poor, landless and marginalized communities, including SC/ST individuals and women in rural India. This Act is demand-driven, under which if a worker demands work under the MGNREGA scheme, it is the legal responsibility of the State and the Government of India to provide him/her with work within a specified time or to provide unemployment allowance.
On the contrary, although the VB-G RAM G Act (Viksit Bharat- Guarantee for Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act) 2025 mentions 125 days, this guarantee is actually tied to the normative budget and limited financial arrangements, due to which this guarantee remains only on paper. In this framework, the availability of employment will no longer rely on the labourer’s demand but will depend on the allocations made by the Government of India according to pre-determined plans and budget limits.
Disclosing more, the Minister said that the VIKSIT BHARAT - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act
discusses paying wages in a 60:40 ratio and mandates weekly payments, but in practice, these changes will actually increase the financial burden on State Governments rather than alleviate it.
The Government of India will set a budget limit for the entire financial year in advance; however, it is important to note that under the MGNREGA scheme, workers have the legal right to demand work, which will be impacted by this budget limitation. In this situation, if work is not provided within the stipulated time, then the State Government has to bear the entire responsibility of unemployment allowance. Along with this, if the limit of the Central budget allocation is reached, providing work to the workers becomes not only administratively challenging but also financially unfeasible.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sond while interacting with the media revealed that in a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, headed by a Lok Sabha MP from Congress Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, nobody from the Congress opposed the VB G RAM G scheme. But in Vidhan Sabha they are shedding crocodile tears, said the Minister.
Prominent among others who also spoke on the occasion included the Finance Ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Aman Arora, Lal Chand Kataruchak, Dr. Balbir Singh, Harbhajan Singh ETO, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, MLA Adampur Sukhwinder Singh Kotli, MLA Nihal Singh Wala Manjit Singh Bilaspur, MLA Jaito Amolak Singh, MLA Kulwant Singh Pandori, Rupinder Singh Happy MLA Fatehgarh Sahib, MLA Dakha Manpreet Singh Ayali, MLA Bhadaur Labh Singh Ugoke, MLA Payal Manwinder Singh Giaspura, MLA Pathankot Ashwani Sharma, MLA Fazilka Narinderpal Singh Savna, MLA (Gill) Jeewan Singh Sanghewal, MLA Jalalabad Jagdeep Singh Goldi Kamboj, MLA Nakodar Inderjeet Kaur Mann, Barindermeet Singh Pahra MLA Gurdaspur, MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh and MLA Rana Inder Pratap Singh.