Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday said the state government will convene a one-day special session of the Punjab Assembly on December 30. The session will focus on the proposed VB-G RAM G Bill and how “it will take away the rights of the poor”.
The Assembly will also deliberate on how the Centre is allegedly weakening and dismantling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Cheema said.
The decision to hold the special session was taken by the Punjab Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Chandigarh. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Finance Minister Cheema accused the BJP-led Central government of making attempts to undermine the Constitution through such legislative changes.
Referring to the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, Cheema said the Punjab government strongly opposes the amendments proposed under the new employment scheme.
He said the special Assembly session on December 30 will discuss how the rights of the poor in Punjab and across the country are being taken away under the new bill.
Cheema added that all amendments being introduced under the VB-G RAM G Bill will be thoroughly discussed during the one-day session of the Vidhan Sabha.
While the Centre has claimed that the new scheme will guarantee 125 days of employment, Cheema said the number of permissible works has been reduced. He alleged that under these conditions, the poor may not even get 10 days of work.
Parliament on Thursday passed the VB-G RAM G Bill, which aims to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA scheme and promises 125 days of rural wage employment annually. The bill was passed amid strong protests from opposition parties.
The bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote late on Thursday night, just hours after it was passed in the Lok Sabha. The opposition protested the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the scheme and accused the Centre of shifting the financial burden onto states.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday had also opposed the Centre’s move, alleging that the new bill would severely affect the livelihoods of the poor by altering the MGNREGA framework.
Mann said earlier that under MGNREGA, the Centre contributes 90 per cent of the funds, while states contribute 10 per cent.
"Now they say they have raised it to 125 days (of employment). The Centre will contribute 60 per cent, and states will pay 40 per cent. And they do not give funds to states. From where the states will bring money," Mann had asked.
The existing MGNREGA scheme guarantees 100 days of employment in a year. Referring to the new scheme, Mann said important works related to irrigation, construction of schools or mandis cannot be undertaken due to new restrictions imposed under it.
He said village ponds can now be cleaned only once in five years under the new rules. “First they impose restrictions on work, and then they claim to have increased employment days to 125,” the chief minister said.
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