Punjab calls one-day assembly session on Labour Day

The chief minister said that as part of this historic initiative, representatives of labour unions will be invited to the House as special guests.

Punjab cabinet, led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, on Tuesday gave a nod to convene a special session of the state assembly on May 1 to commemorate Labour Day.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann said that as part of this historic initiative, representatives of labour unions will be invited to the House as special guests.

“This one-day session will be dedicated to the hardworking labourers and artisans who make a vital contribution to the country’s social and economic development,” Mann said in a post on X.

The chief minister said that as part of this historic initiative, representatives of labour unions will be invited to the House as special guests.

“The session will also witness serious discussions on the impact of changes in the MGNREGA scheme on the working class, along with broader national and international challenges affecting them,” the CM said, adding that during the session, other essential legislative business as determined by the business advisory committee of the assembly will be carried out in accordance with established procedures.

According to the chief minister’s office’s spokesperson, the session will also discuss the detrimental effects on the labour and working class due to the political reconstitution of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) into the VB-G Ram G scheme.

This is going to be the eighth special session by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government since it took over in 2022. Earlier in 2023, a special session was held seeking the release of the rural development fund (RDF) charged by the state procurement agencies, which the Centre had stopped in 2022. Last year, a session was called on a controversy related to Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), which was followed by a session after Punjab was hit by the worst floods in decades in the monsoon season, which the state government blamed on the BBMB’s mismanagement and rehabilitation measures taken by the state government. A day-long special session was also held on scaling down of the Mahatama Gandhi rural employment guarantee scheme by the Centre and renaming it ‘VB-G RAM G’.

In November last year, a special session was organised to commemorate the 350th martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur in Anandpur Sahib. Lately, on April 13, the state assembly, via a special session, amended the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act to include stringent punishment clauses against accused individuals involved in the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib.