Political Clash Over MGNREGA Replacement Heats Up

The Congress party in Himachal Pradesh is very upset because the central government is changing a law called MGNREGA, which gives jobs to people in villages.

They think the new law, called the VB-G RAM G Act, is not good for rural areas.

The Chief Minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and other Congress leaders protested near a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

They said the new law will take away the power of local village councils (panchayats) to decide on projects and will make the state government pay more money.

They also said the salaries of officers working under MGNREGA have been stopped, which will make it harder to run the scheme.

The BJP, the party in power at the centre, says the new law is better because it gives more days of work and more money.

They also said the Congress is lying and just trying to confuse people.

The Congress plans to hold more protests all over the state to show their disagreement.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan criticized the Punjab government for alleged corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA and for opposing the new VB-G RAM G Act.

He said the Punjab government has not taken any action against the corruption cases that were found during social audits.

The Congress and the Punjab government believe they have the right to protest against central laws that they think are bad for their regions, while the BJP and the central government say that states should not reject or move against laws passed by Parliament.