Face2News/Chandigarh

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema today launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Union Government, pointing out that the Centre is systematically dismantling the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme and stripping the poor of their right to a livelihood. Speaking in the Vidhan Sabha in support of a resolution against the recent changes and the renaming of the MGNREGA scheme to ‘Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)’ (VB-G RAM G), Cheema labelled the move as an "assault on the stomachs of the marginalised." 

During his address, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema read a poignant letter from a woman worker, Charanjit Kaur, which highlighted the fears of thousands of rural labourers. Charanjit Kaur’s letter expressed the anxiety that changing rules and centralised village lists would deprive children of education and the elderly of medicine. 

The Finance Minister emphasised that by centralising the scheme and moving to complex mobile-based attendance, the Union Government is snatching away the ‘Guarantee’ of work that was once the backbone of rural survival. 

Pointing out the BJP is working against the spirit of the Constitution authored by Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Minister Harpal Singh Cheema slammed the BJP-led Union Government for working against the spirit of the Constitution, authored by Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. “The Preamble to the Constitution, which embodies the fundamental principles and values of the nation, is being undermined by the Centre's policies. The Preamble reads, ‘We, the People of India, solemnly resolve to constitute India into a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic’,” he added. 

The Finance Minister said that the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly pronounced in its judgments that the Preamble to the Constitution cannot be changed or disturbed, affirming its sacrosanct nature. 

In a strongly worded critique, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema stated, “The Union Government is attempting to turn the country's workers into ‘bonded labourers’ and ‘slaves’ of a centralised system by centralising every scheme. This approach is destroying cooperative federalism, stripping states of their rights, and weakening local economies, is a direct attack on the soul of democracy.” 

Raising strong objections to the renaming of the scheme after religious icons, Harpal Singh Cheema said that while the world respects Lord Rama, using a religious name for a government scheme is a political tactic to shield the government from criticism. “This creates a dangerous precedent where protesters seeking wages or rights can be labelled as being disrespectful to religious sentiments,” he warned. 

Contrasting the Center's policies with the Punjab Government's initiatives, Harpal Singh Cheema highlighted that the AAP is working day and night for the elevation of the Dalit community through concrete actions. “For the first time in Punjab’s history, the Dalit community has received unprecedented representation with 6 out of 15 ministers in the Bhagwant Singh Mann cabinet. In another historic first, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appointed the state's first Dalit Finance Minister, a position that previous Congress and Akali regimes never entrusted to a Dalit leader,” he added. 

The Minister further detailed the tangible benefits delivered to the community, noting that the AAP government has already provided government jobs to over 15,000 Dalit youth. “Financial empowerment has been a cornerstone of this agenda, as the state has successfully waived the loans of almost 5000 underprivileged Dalit families, a move never seen under prior administrations. Most significantly, the 2025-26 budget reflects this commitment by allocating approximately ₹14,000 crore under the SC/ST Sub-Plan (SCSP). This represents the highest allocation in Punjab's history, ensuring that 34% of the total development budget is dedicated specifically to the upliftment of marginalised and deprived sections,” he noted. 

Harpal Singh Cheema also celebrated the success of the Education Revolution, where over 267 students from government schools, many of the children of labourers, have cleared JEE and 235 got admission, 847 cleared NEET and 560 got admissions, many more students from state government schools cleared such competition examinations for the first time in such a big number. 

Minister Harpal Singh Cheema challenged the opposition to quote such examples from their regimes. “CM Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjab Government has also extended this empowerment for the first time to the legal field as well, where the implementation of 25% reservation for Dalit lawyers in the Advocate General’s office has led to the appointment of 58 children of poor people, sanitation workers to high-ranking legal positions. Punjab is the only state in India to provide such a reservation to Dalit lawyers,” added the Minister. 

Minister Harpal Singh Cheema concluded by warning the Union Government of a massive nationwide movement, announcing that the Punjab Government and the AAP would stand firmly in support of the workers. 

He urged the Speaker to forward the hundreds of letters received from MGNREGA workers, many bearing thumb impressions, to the Prime Minister's Office to demonstrate the human cost of these policy changes. "We will not allow the BJP to snatch the bread from the mouths of our workers to serve corporate interests," declared the Minister.