Chandigarh, Sept. 27 -- Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday accused the BJP-led central government of systematically weakening employment opportunities for the country's poor, Dalits and labourers by making major changes to the rural employment scheme.

Cheema said the latest figures vindicated the concerns raised by AAP when the MGNREGA scheme was renamed Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (VB-GRAM G).

"The BJP had repeatedly claimed that only the name of the scheme had been changed and that everything else remained the same. However, several components within the scheme that generated employment had been altered," he claimed.

"The reality is now before the people. The BJP government has dealt a...