Punjab has announced a special assembly session in the second week of January to challenge the Centre’s proposal to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the VB-GRAMG scheme.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the move by the BJP-led central government will directly impact rural livelihoods. He called MGNREGA a critical safety net for village households and warned that weakening it would endanger employment security in rural areas. The special session will formally register Punjab’s opposition to the proposed changes.
The decision follows the postponement of the last special assembly session on November 24, which was officially deferred by the Governor on December 17. A senior AAP leadership meeting, attended by party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, finalized the call for the new session.
The VB-GRAMG bill was recently passed in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha amid opposition protests. States, including Punjab, raised concerns over altered funding patterns under the new scheme, which could impose additional financial pressure on already resource-constrained state budgets.
Protests against the policy have also spread to the streets. Labour and farm worker unions staged demonstrations in several districts, including Bathinda, Moga, Muktsar, Faridkot, and Sangrur, burning effigies of the central government.
