AAP govt in Punjab makes u-turn, notifies Centre's VB-G RAM G scheme

The AAP government in Punjab issued a gazette notification on Friday to notify the Union government's VB-G RAM G rural employment scheme. The scheme will come into force from July 1. The move marks a complete reversal of the Punjab government's earlier stand.

In December last year, the Bhagwant Mann government convened a special one-day session of the assembly and unanimously passed a resolution opposing the VB-G RAM G Act. The resolution was also supported by the Opposition Congress. The Congress has now questioned the sudden change in the government's stand. "If assembly's own resolution can be overturned overnight, Punjabis deserve answers. CM Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal must explain why the government's stand has changed and whether any understanding with the BJP led to this decision," Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, posted on X.

However, sources in the AAP government told ET that, with elections approaching, the state did not want to risk the Centre withholding funds, making the notification necessary. The notification has come a day after the state government has notified for fresh borrowing of ₹1500 crore through government securities to finance capital expenditure and other expenditures in the planned schemes.