Congress to Launch Mass Movement from Gurdaspur to Save MGNREGA, Announces Raja Warring
December 29, 2025
Ikramudin / Ludhiana
The Punjab Congress will launch a statewide mass movement to save the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from Gurdaspur on January 8, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring announced on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference here, Warring said the campaign would begin with press conferences across the state and would later intensify into a mass movement involving party workers and the public. He said the Congress has also taken up the issue at the national level, adding that the Congress Working Committee has already held a special meeting and decided to launch a nationwide campaign against the Centre’s proposal to scrap MGNREGA.
Warring accused the BJP-led central government of attempting to snatch the livelihood of lakhs of rural poor and marginalized people by replacing MGNREGA with a new scheme. He said the move was similar to the three farm laws, which were ultimately withdrawn after widespread protests by farmers. The new scheme, he added, was no less than a “black law” and would severely damage rural employment and the economy.
Highlighting the importance of MGNREGA, the PCC president said the scheme guaranteed 100 days of employment as a constitutional right, under which any rural worker could demand work and the government was legally bound to provide it. He said the proposed replacement takes away this right, leaving the poor and downtrodden at the mercy of the government.
Warring also targeted the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, accusing it of failing to implement MGNREGA effectively. He said that under the AAP government, only 42 percent of the total MGNREGA work was provided in the state. According to him, this failure was due to the state government’s inability to contribute its 10 percent matching share against the 90 percent grant provided by the Centre.
He warned that the new law would be even more devastating for Punjab, as the state would now be required to bear a 40 percent share instead of 10 percent earlier. “When the AAP government could not provide 10 percent, how will it manage 40 percent?” Warring asked, adding that the AAP could not escape responsibility for its failures by holding what he termed a token special session of the Vidhan Sabha.
Several senior Congress leaders were present at the press conference, including district presidents Sanjeev Talwar and Major Singh Mullanpur, former ministers Rakesh Pandey and Milkiat Singh Dakha, former MLAs Surinder Dawer, Kuldeep Vaid, Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Bains, along with other party leaders.
MGNREGA Protest Punjab Congress Raja Warring MGNREGA Warning BJP New Employment Law AAP MGNREGA Failure Punjab Rural Economy
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