Cabinet Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats Tarunpreet Singh Sond, on Wednesday led hundreds of labourers in a massive protest against the Union Government’s newly enacted Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-GRAM Act), which replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Addressing the gathering, Minister Sond, accompanied by President of the Scheduled Caste Wing of the Aam Aadmi Party Gurpreet Singh GP, termed the VB-GRAM Act a “black, draconian and anti-poor law” that will devastate the rural economy and snatch bread from the mouths of the most vulnerable sections of society.
“The BJP-led central government has betrayed rural India by bringing this black law. It directly attacks the livelihoods of lakhs of poor families who depend on MGNREGA for survival,” Sond declared. “This new Act cruelly denies work during peak agricultural seasons—exactly when families need it most.
This is not development; this is destruction of the rural poor.” The Minister highlighted that Scheduled Caste communities, women, and landless labourers will suffer the most. "The Aam Aadmi Party will not remain silent.
We will take this fight to the streets of Delhi. We will not allow the BJP Government to snatch the hard-earned rights of our labourers,” Sond asserted. Gurpreet Singh GP echoed the Minister’s sentiments and added that AAP stand shoulder-to-shoulder with every labourer and will force the Centre to roll back this anti-poor Act.”