Prateek Tanmay
4 min readNew DelhiJul 2, 2026 02:26 AM IST
Terming it “the biggest U-Turn” in the history of democratic governance, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday took on the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab following its decision to finally go ahead with the implementation of the Centre’s VB-G RAM G employment guarantee scheme.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, referring to the Bhagwant Mann government’s decision to convene a special session of the Vidhan Sabha to pass a resolution against the implementation of the scheme in Punjab in December last year, alleged that change in stance has come amid the state’s “deteriorating” financial condition and “mounting” debt.
“It is the biggest U-turn in democratic governance. On December 30, 2025, Bhagwant Mann ji’s government convened a special session of the state Assembly. During that session, they said that the central scheme VB-G RAM G, which offered 125 days of employment, was anti-Dalit, anti-labourer, anti-farmer, and anti-woman, and demanded that this ‘black law’ should be rolled back,” he said.
“Just six months later, they executed a massive U-turn, so drastic that they actually implemented the scheme, announcing its rollout starting July 1. Why did they do this? Because Punjab’s economy is sinking…In the 2026-27 budget, Punjab’s total debt has skyrocketed to Rs 4.07 lakh crore…this is projected to increase to Rs 4.47 lakh crore,” he added.
Punjab’s debt-to-GSDP ratio, too, he said, was around 46% compared to the national average of 29%, and likely the second-highest in the country.
“Why did they make this U-turn?…when there is a beneficial scheme that can help the people of your own state, why not adopt it?…This is an indication of Punjab’s governance style,” he said.
“Why did you not understand (that this scheme is good) six months ago?…It appears to me that this is political opportunism,” he added.
Story continues below this ad
The Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025, came into force across the country on Wednesday, with the Centre saying the law will provide eligible rural households a statutory entitlement to 125 days of guaranteed wage employment. The Centre also notified revised wage rates under the Act, with no notified daily wage being below Rs 300. According to the ministry, the national average notified wage has increased from Rs 298.8 per day to Rs 327.4 per day, an average rise of over 10 per cent.
BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla said that the NDA-led Centre was contributing Rs 750–800 crore towards the scheme and that the government of “guru dokhi Bhagwant Mann” had been “compelled to adopt it due to the state’s deteriorating financial condition and mounting debt.”
“With effect from July 1, 2026, the Bhagwant Mann government has decided to implement the central government’s Yojana. As of today, the Yojana has come into force in Punjab,” Shukla said, claimed that the Mann government had initially opposed the scheme on the instructions from AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
“What exactly changed in these six months that a scheme once branded as anti-poor, anti-farmer and anti-Dalit is now being embraced by the Punjab government? It appears that the Mann government has become convinced of its impending defeat in the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections. That is why they have now started praising the central government’s scheme,” he added.
Story continues below this ad
Shukla alleged that Mann may intend to misuse the funds of the VB-G RAM G scheme by diverting them to some other scheme. “But we will keep an eye on it and ensure that Kejriwal and his ‘guru dokhi’ Mann government cannot misuse this scheme,” he added.
