CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab is misusing the government machinery against the Central Government’s Viksit Bharat – Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural) Act (VB–G RAM G Act), 2025, alleged Ashwani Sharma, working president of Punjab BJP. He claimed that the AAP government was misleading MGNREGA workers and coercing them into signing forms opposing the law through deceptive means.
As evidence, Sharma made public a form that he claimed the Punjab Government was getting filled by workers through village-level officials to falsely project opposition among Punjab’s workers to the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025. He claimed that the reality was exactly the opposite. The party’s state media head, Vineet Joshi, was also present on the occasion.
He alleged that Arvind Kejriwal — after spending months in jail in the liquor scam, securing bail with great difficulty, and suffering a crushing electoral defeat at the hands of the people of Delhi — was attempting to create an atmosphere of rebellion against the Central Government through Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. This, he said, was not only unfortunate but also posed a serious threat to the federal structure of the country.
Sharma said that under the new law, rural workers would now get 125 days of employment against the earlier 100 days, and there was also a provision for payment of unemployment allowance if work was not provided on time. He questioned why Mann was opposing a law that was clearly in the interest of workers.
He further said that even under MGNREGA, the AAP government in Punjab had completely failed, over the last three years, to provide workers with 100 days of employment. He questioned why the Chief Minister was silent on his failure.
Sharma explained that as per the MGNREGA Act, the state government was legally bound to provide work within 15 days of a worker demanding employment. If work was not provided, the unemployment allowance was to be paid. However, the Punjab Government neither provided work on time nor paid unemployment allowance.
Citing Section 25 of the MGNREGA, he said action should be taken against officials responsible in such cases. He asked the Chief Minister to disclose what action, if any, had been taken in the state’s 23 districts so far.
He added that in cases involving Scheduled Caste workers, action under the SC Act was mandatory, so the Chief Minister should clarify how many such cases had actually resulted in action against guilty officials.
Sharma alleged that the AAP government was not even conducting the mandatory social audits, in a bid to conceal corruption and irregularities under the MGNREGA. Social audits were not conducted in 6,095 gram panchayats during 2024-25 and in 7,389 gram panchayats during 2025–26, he alleged.
He further stated that out of the corruption cases detected by the Special Audit Unit, no Action Taken Report had been issued so far in 3,986 cases by the Punjab Government, clearly indicating that corrupt elements were being protected.
Additionally, recovery orders amounting to ₹2.35 crore issued after inquiries by the Lokpal/Ombudsperson had also not been implemented to date, raising serious questions about the intent and functioning of the AAP government, he alleged.
Taking a jibe at Punjab Congress leaders, Sharma said, “Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi themselves admitted that there was corruption under MGNREGA, and that is exactly what we are trying to fix. Then why is the Congress creating an uproar?”
Sharma also showed a video in which Sonia Gandhi acknowledged that even after seven years of the Act, corruption persisted and that both the central and state governments had failed to curb it. Sonia further stated that neither was work being provided within 15 days, nor were daily wages paid on time. She also said that works worth ₹2,252 crore were carried out without any approval.