In a U-turn, Punjab govt notifies VB-G RAM G scheme

CHANDIGARH: The AAP government in Punjab, which had been opposing the Viksit Bharat Guarantee Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G), has notified the rural employment scheme, which will come into force from July 1 in the state.

The Bhagwant Mann government had convened a special session of the Punjab Assembly last December which had unanimously passed a resolution against the VB-G RAM G Act.

"In order to align the rural development framework with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 by providing an enhanced statutory wage employment guarantee of one hundred and twenty five (125) days in each financial year to such rural households whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work;

"And to focus on employment, growth, convergence and saturation, the government of Punjab is pleased to notify the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G] Scheme, Punjab 2026, under the provisions of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025," read the June 26 gazette notification.

The notification was issued by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats.

The opposition Congress slammed the AAP government, asking under what "deal and compromise" with the BJP, it implemented this scheme in Punjab.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said the timing of the implementation of the scheme in Punjab is as important as it is surprising.

"Whether the sudden implementation of the scheme had something to do with the ongoing controversy related to the chief minister," he asked, referring to the video row.

The AAP government had called a one-day special session of the Punjab Assembly to oppose the VB-G RAM G Act.

On December 30, 2025, the Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution against the VB-G RAM G Act, accusing the BJP-led central government of "taking away" the livelihood of the poor and Dalit labourers by scrapping MGNREGA under a "deliberate conspiracy".

The House had recommended that the Punjab government urge the Centre to immediately restore the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( MGNREGA) to its original right-based form.