Chandigarh, Dec. 31 -- Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday accused the central government of deliberately misleading the public under the guise of a Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) overhaul to push its anti-poor agenda, asserting that unpaid dues of Rs.23,000 crore expose the reality behind the BJP's claims.

Cheema said that by shifting 40% of the financial burden onto the states and hollowing out the rights-based structure of the scheme, the BJP government at the Centre has effectively liquidated the employment guarantee and weakened the federal framework.

"While the Punjab assembly stood firmly with workers against these moves, the Congress-led states chose silence," the AAP leader claime...