Punjab: Congress lashes out at Centre over MGNREGA

The Punjab Congress on Friday hit out at the Centre over MGNREGA, alleging the BJP-led government was trying to snatch away the livelihood of the poor. Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the Modi government was trying to snatch away the livelihood of the poor.

The Punjab Congress on Friday hit out at the Centre over MGNREGA, alleging the BJP-led government was trying to snatch away the livelihood of the poor. The party also condemned the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab for ''failing'' to take remedial measures at local level. The denunciation came at the party's Save MGNREGA' rally in Dakha and later at Raikot, where speakers also expressed their concern over the ''deteriorating'' law and order in the state, with gangsterism on the rise. Addressing the rally, Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab Bhupesh Baghel promised that the Congress would restore the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) at all costs when it comes to power. The state is up for election in 2027. ''Congress will force Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bow down and he will be made to restore the MGNREGA the same way he was forced to withdraw the three controversial agricultural laws,'' the former Chhattisgarh chief minister said. Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the Modi government was trying to snatch away the livelihood of the poor. He said former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh government had brought in the law to provide livelihood to the poor and the marginalised. The Ludhiana MP also criticised the AAP government in Punjab for doing just ''lip service'' on the issue. He said till the time the MGNREGA is restored, it could have provided some interim relief to the affected people. He alleged that the AAP government in Punjab was the worst performing one in implementing the MGNREGA. He said not even 12 per cent people had been provided the required number of work mandatory under the rural job scheme. Warring cautioned people, particularly the women, against the ''alluring'' promises of the AAP, alleging they were being ''cheated'' with a fake promise of Rs 1,000 every month. Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said the BJP was ''undermining'' the rights of both the 'jawans' and the 'kisans'. He said, while the recruitment in the defence services had been hit, the farmers were slapped with ''black laws.'' Bajwa also demanded that the government waive the loans of farmers. He said, even when the Centre was supposed to provide 90 per cent of the expenses and the state just ten percent, the AAP government failed to provide even this meagre sum. Referring to the special session of the state assembly on MGNREGA last month, he said the AAP government had held so many such sessions and the net result was zero. Former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa lashed out at the AAP government for the ''collapse'' of law and order in the state, and called Bhagwant Mann the ''most corrupt and the most cowardly'' chief minister. ''Punjab never had and never ever will have such a corrupt and a coward chief minister like him,'' he alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)