Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Slamming Punjab government for its decision to bring a resolution against the VB-G RAM G Act in the Punjab Assembly, Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said that the move is undemocratic and against the basic spirit of the Constitution.
"If a law is made by Parliament, passing a resolution against it in an assembly goes against the spirit of our Constitutional framework," the Minister told media in Bhopal.
"Will it be appropriate if district panchayats, janpad panchayats, or gram panchayats start passing resolutions against state laws?" Chouhan asked.
He reiterated that it is the Constitutional duty of the Centre and states to follow laws passed by Parliament.
The AAP government on Tuesday brought a resolution against the VB-G RAM G Act in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and accused the BJP-led Centre of trying to finish the MGNREGA.
Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond tabled the resolution in the House for discussion during the one-day session.
Chouhan targeted opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, saying he lives in a "world of imagination" and has no connection with the realities of the country.
"Speaking out whatever comes to one's mind is not responsible politics," Chouhan said.
He was referring to Gandhi's recent claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) unilaterally without consulting his cabinet or studying the matter.
Citing a report, Chouhan alleged that large-scale corruption has surfaced in several schemes, including MGNREGA, in Punjab. "However, no action was taken against the guilty, and neither the embezzled money was recovered," he added.
He claimed that social audits were conducted in only 5,915 of 13,304 gram panchayats in Punjab.
"The report mentions around 10,653 cases of financial embezzlement, but no action has been taken in any of them," Chouhan added.
He alleged that irregular expenditure was incurred on activities not permitted under the erstwhile MGNREGA. He said workers were complaining that they were not being paid their wages.