Chandigarh, Sep 26 Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday accused the BJP-led central government of systematically weakening employment opportunities for the country’s poor, Dalits and labourers by making major changes to the rural employment scheme.
Cheema said the latest figures vindicated the concerns raised by AAP when the scheme was renamed Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM-G).
The BJP had repeatedly claimed that only the name of the scheme had been changed and that everything else remained the same. However, several components within the scheme that generated employment had been altered, he claimed.
“The reality is now before the people. The BJP government has dealt a severe blow to the employment of the poor and labourers of this country,” said Cheema.
Citing statistics, the AAP leader said, “Around 9.56 crore fewer person-days of employment had been generated through the scheme compared with the previous year. While around 30 crore person-days were generated last year, the figure fell to approximately 20.4 crore this year, representing a massive reduction in employment available to rural workers.”
The impact was particularly significant for Dalit and marginalised communities. Around 87 per cent of the workers covered under the scheme are from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities and the BJP government’s changes have pushed these communities further down, he alleged.
It’s because the BJP is “anti-Dalit and hates them”, he said. The BJP government has hit the poorest people where it hurts the most, their livelihoods and their daily wages, he alleged.
The BJP came to power promising to increase employment under the scheme to 125 days, but instead of increasing work opportunities, the government has reduced the number of person-days available to workers, he alleged.
(PTI News)
