As VB-G RAM G turns into a Punjab flashpoint, why BJP may have a cause for concern

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is behind the latest political flashpoint in Punjab after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government passed a resolution against the Centre’s move to replace it with the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission-Gramin (VB-G-RAM-G) Act during a one-day special Assembly session on December 30.

The resolution has snowballed into a wider debate on workers’ rights, corruption, federalism, and electoral politics, with both the AAP and the Congress comparing it with the now-repealed three farm laws. In recent months, the Punjab government and the Centre have clashed over what the AAP sees as attempts to encroach on the state’s domain.

The resolution accused the Centre government of undermining the livelihood security of poor labourers, women, and Dalit families, all of whom have historically depended on guaranteed employment under MGNREGA.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP leaders described the Centre’s move as an attempt to “snatch away bread from the poor” and dilute a scheme that provides crucial economic support to rural households. AAP legislators carried letters purportedly written by MGNREGA workers into the House, underlining concerns over the new Act. The AAP also targeted the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), accusing it of being “hand-in-glove” with the BJP.

“The SAD today is wriggling like a fish to strike an alliance with the BJP. In its lust for power, the party is overlooking the concerns of Punjab, its farmers, and workers,” AAP spokesperson Neel Garg said, adding that Akali Dal legislators did not consider the special session worthy of “opening their mouths”.

Recalling how the SAD “had turned its back on farmers” during the protests against the now-repealed farm laws, Garg said the SAD’s “secret understandings” with the BJP would not get it power or respect.

The SAD called the allegations “mischievous lies and politically motivated”. “The party has consistently raised concerns about corruption in MGNREGA under both Congress and AAP governments and demanded an impartial probe,” it said in a statement, while accusing the Mann government of “diverting attention from its own failures”.

The BJP too slammed the AAP’s move to hold a special session. “The AAP is indulging in propaganda to cover up its failures. Development in a federal structure is possible only when the Centre and states work together. The AAP, however, has always adopted a confrontational attitude,” state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said.

Challenging the Mann government to prove its commitment towards the poor, Jakhar pointed out that the CM himself had admitted to corruption in the MGNREGA but failed to act on it.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan too weighed in. Alleging that the implementation of the rural employment guarantee scheme was riddled with 10,653 cases of financial irregularities, Chouhan said no recovery had been made yet. “Social audits were conducted in only 5,915 of over 13,000 gram panchayats of the state, and despite repeated communications, the state government took no action against erring officials or contractors,” he said.

Punjab has 13,304 gram panchayats and 30.15 lakh registered MGNREGA workers in the current financial year. Of these, 14.99 lakh are active workers with 11.9 lakh active job cards. From April to December 2025, average employment per household stood at 27.02 days, down from 37.63 days in 2024–25. Only 7.49 lakh households have received work so far this year.

The move to rename MGNREGA comes as a challenge for the BJP as it involves a significant chunk of two social groups – women and Scheduled Caste (SC) – that the party has been aggressively trying to woo in the state.

While women account for over 68% of the workforce engaged in the scheme in the state in the current financial year, the party has intensified its SC outreach through social welfare camps across villages while highlighting central government schemes.

Any perception of dilution, replacement or symbolic distancing from the original scheme risks alienating rural labourers, women workers and SCs.

Even as labour organisations have adopted a cautious stance on the issue, MGNREGA workers have united under the Sanjha Mazdoor Morcha (SMM) banner and launched protests.

General Secretary of the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union Lachhaman Singh Sewewala said the letters given by AAP leaders were signed by workers in the hope that they would prove beneficial for them. “However, the exercise seems like data collection for political parties,” he added.

Questioning the AAP government’s seriousness on the issue, president of the Pendu Mazdoor Union Tarsem Peter said, “They should have raised the issue much before the Bill was passed in Parliament had they been serious.”

While the Congress has said it will begin protests against the Centre’s move on January 5, the state unit will launch the “save MGNREGA” movement from Gurdaspur on January 8. “The new scheme which replaces the MGNREGA is also a black law with which the BJP is trying to snatch the livelihood of lakhs of rural poor and the marginalised,” Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said.