Punjab BJP launches statewide campaign to spread awareness about VB-G RAM G scheme

Chandigarh, Jan 7 (PTI) The BJP's Punjab unit on Wednesday launched a statewide campaign to spread awareness about the VB-G RAM G scheme and claimed the new Act "tightens the noose around those who used corruption".

The saffron party alleged that Congress and AAP were spreading "misinformation" regarding the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar Aajeevika Mission (Grameen) (VB-G RAM G) Act and launched the campaign from Kheowali Dhaba village in Fazilka district.

Addressing a gathering, state BJP president Sunil Jakhar said, "The new law tightens the noose around those who used corruption to deprive the poor of their rightful dues, which is why AAP, Congress and other opposition parties are opposing it.” He claimed that the initiative by the BJP-led government at the Centre is "in the interest of the poor" and said poor people's money now won't go to contractors' pockets, but will be directly credited into the workers' bank accounts.

He said corruption has been eliminated from the scheme, which is why those who benefited through corrupt practices under the old law are protesting.

According to a party statement, Jakhar said more than 6,500 cases of corruption under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have come to light in Punjab, yet Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has taken "no action against even a single person".

Jakhar further targeted the AAP government in the state over the allegedly deteriorating law and order situation.

"There is still time for the chief minister to take stock of the deteriorating law-and-order situation and work in the public interest," he said.

On the government's 'Yudh Nashian Virudh' campaign, Jakhar claimed that the government's "war against drugs" has been reduced to a mere public relations exercise, with neither drugs nor gangsterism being effectively curbed on the ground.

"Due to the AAP government's immature policies, Punjab today stands at a crossroads, from which only a strong government can rescue it," he said.

He said people of Punjab are now realising that the BJP is the only strong alternative, capable of pulling the state out of "economic bankruptcy and ensuring development for all sections, while providing stable and peaceful governance".

He said his party can "restore Punjab's lost glory and once again make it a leading state of the country".

The VB-G RAM G Act was passed by Parliament last month, which replaced the MGNREGA and brought in several structural changes to the rural employment scheme. PTI SUN PRK PRK