Chandigarh, July 18: The Punjab government has declared its complete solidarity with more than 2,100 MGNREGA workers currently protesting across the state following changes to the rural employment program. Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond dispatched a formal communication to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, calling for a uniform national policy to secure permanent status for these long-serving administrative and technical staff members.
The administrative shift occurred after the central government transitioned from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to the newly introduced Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission on July 1. This change has drawn sharp criticism from state officials, who note that the financial obligations of the new structure are being shifted to state governments while leaving the employment status of workers unresolved.
The impacted workforce consists of technical assistants, gram rozgar sahayaks, and computer operators who have managed local developmental initiatives for nearly two decades. Opposition factions within Punjab have sought to blame the state administration for the current disruption, a narrative that the state government strongly rejects.
“This is a very sensitive issue, and it is entirely related to the BJP-led Central Government,” Minister Sond stated during a press briefing at Punjab Bhawan. He maintained that opposition parties were attempting to divert attention from the actual structural changes, adding, “It is very important that the truth and the facts are placed before the people.”
The core grievance stems from the sudden contractual nature of the transition, which leaves the personnel with minimal long-term professional stability despite eighteen years of continuous operation under the original federal framework. State officials have urged the immediate clearance of all outstanding salary payments alongside structural adjustments within the new mission.
“The salaries of these employees were paid entirely by the Central Government because it was a 100 percent Central Government scheme,” Sond affirmed, pointing out that the change forced thousands of essential workers into active protest. He declared that the state administration remains fully supportive of the agitation, asserting, “The Centre has openly violated their democratic rights by making them work for 18 years and then discontinuing the scheme.”
