CHANDIGARH,31, Dec,2025: The Punjab Vidhan Sabha unanimously passed a resolution on December 30, 2025, condemning the Centre’s Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, which replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond tabled the resolution, accusing the BJP-led Union government of undermining rural livelihoods by shifting from a demand-driven, fully centrally funded rights-based scheme to a budget-capped model that burdens states financially.
Key Objections from Punjab Government
The resolution highlights that the VB-G RAM G Act removes guaranteed wages and employment for below-poverty-line families, Scheduled Caste communities, women, and over a lakh job card holders in Punjab, tying work to “normative allocations” rather than worker demand. It demands restoration of MGNREGA’s original structure and urges the Centre to scrap provisions imposing “undue financial burden” on states, such as the 60:40 wage-sharing ratio. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann criticized the Act as an attempt to “snatch food from the poor,” noting that while it promises 125 days of work, actual availability depends on Union budget limits.
Centre’s Strong Rebuttal
Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan slammed the Punjab resolution as “unconstitutional,” asserting that Parliamentary laws like the VB-G RAM G Act bind all states and cannot be defied through state assembly resolutions. Chouhan emphasized the Act’s compliance with constitutional mandates, calling the AAP government’s move a violation of federal spirit and accusing it of spreading falsehoods about MGNREGA’s replacement. He reiterated that states must implement the law, which introduces tech-driven monitoring and higher work days but caps central funding.
Despite the resolution, Punjab cannot halt the VB-G RAM G Act’s implementation within its borders, as it is a valid Central legislation replacing MGNREGA nationwide. State assemblies lack authority to nullify Parliamentary Acts; non-compliance risks legal challenges or central directives under the Act’s provisions. Experts note potential court challenges on federalism grounds, but no stay exists as of December 31, 2025—implementation proceeds.
This standoff underscores deepening Centre-state tensions over rural employment policy, with Punjab’s symbolic protest unlikely to alter the Act’s rollout but amplifying calls for amendments.
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