The BJP on Wednesday alleged that the Punjab’s AAP government had failed to provide 100 days of employment to the poor under the now-replaced MGNREGA, which the party said was marred by corruption in the state.
Meanwhile, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema accused the BJP-led Centre of “misleading” the public over the rural job plan to push an “anti-poor agenda”.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was replaced by the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)Act by the BJP-led Union Government recently.
The MGNREGA, which provided 100 days of guaranteed employment, was introduced in 2005 by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government.
Under the new scheme, states will have to foot 40 per cent of the wage bill, a provision that has drawn the ire of the Congress and Opposition-ruled states.
Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma also alleged that mandatory audits were not carried out as those guilty “were being shielded”.
Sharma said in the special Assembly session held on Tuesday, the speaker allotted a limited time to party. He said when he tried to speak on the issue, ruling AAP members repeatedly disrupted him.
He said on December 22 too, he had addressed reporters and presented facts.
“As expected, the Chief Minister did not respond to these questions,” Sharma said, claiming that 10,653 corruption cases were detected in a special audit.
‘Centre did not clear dues’
Meanwhile, Cheema alleged that unpaid dues under the scheme exceeded Rs 23,000 crore, exposing the BJP claims.The Punjab Finance Minister said by shifting 40 per cent of the financial burden to states, the Centre effectively weakened the employment guarantee and India’s federal framework.Cheema slammed the BJP leadership for citing the Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj to justify their actions.He said 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.“While the BJP orchestrates a narrative of reform, the central government is sitting on massive unpaid dues totalling over Rs 23,000 crore. This includes Rs 12,219 crore in unpaid wages for labourers and Rs 11,227 crore in material costs owed to panchayats for rural development projects.”