Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond on Saturday wrote to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking the regularisation of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) employees under the newly introduced VB-G RAM G (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission) scheme and urging the Centre to formulate a uniform national policy guaranteeing their job security.
Reaffirming that the Bhagwant Mann Government stands firmly with over 2,100 MGNREGA employees in Punjab, the Minister questioned the Centre’s decision to shift the financial burden of the new scheme onto states while leaving employees’ future uncertain, demanded the immediate release of pending salaries, and asserted that employees who have strengthened rural development programmes for nearly two decades cannot be abandoned after 18 years of service.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday at Punjab Bhawan, Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said, “This is a very sensitive issue, and it is entirely related to the BJP-led Central Government. However, all the opposition parties, whether it is the Congress, the Akali Dal or the BJP in Punjab, are trying to divert the issue and mislead people so that the entire matter is blamed on the Punjab Government. It is very important that the truth and the facts are placed before the people.”
The Minister asserted, “As Punjab’s Rural Development and Panchayat Minister, I have written to Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Through this letter, I want to tell the Central Government that it should wake up, recognise the rights of these employees and regularise them after the years they have devoted to a Central Government scheme.”