The BJP’s Punjab unit will launch a campaign from Fazilka on January 7 to raise awareness among the public about the VB-G RAM G Act, party chief chief Sunil Jakhar Saturday said.
“The government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has always followed the policy of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ (Together with all, development for all), and this scheme has been designed in line with the same policy for the welfare of the poor,” Jakhar said.
The move comes days after the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution against theViksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB-G RAM G) Act, accusing the BJP-led Centre of “taking away” the livelihoods of the poor and Dalit labourers by scrapping UP-era MGNREGA under a “deliberate conspiracy”. The House had recommended that the Punjab government seek from the Centre to restore the MGNREGA to its original right-based form immediately.
Batting for the new law, Jakhar said, “ While the government has increased the number of guaranteed employment days for the beneficiaries from 100 to 125, the new scheme also fixes accountability in cases where no work is provided to labourers”.
The scheme’s implementation will tackle corruption, and the labourers’ entire wage amount will be directly credited to their bank accounts, the BJP leader claimed, “This is why the AAP government and the Congress are opposing the new scheme”.
The campaign will “expose the misleading propaganda” being spread by the AAP and the Congress against the scheme, and will make labourers aware of the truth, he said, and pointed out that in the past, no one was held accountable for failing to provide 100 days of employment to labourers. However, under the new law, accountability will be fixed, and the rights of the poor can no longer be denied.
Jakhar alleged that the AAP government is indulging in “false” propaganda against the scheme to cover up its own failures and divert attention from real issues, and that the BJP will break this web of misinformation through an extensive public awareness programme.