VB-G RAM G

Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G]

The Viksit Bharat - G RAM G Act, 2025 replaces MGNREGA with a new statutory framework that aligns rural employment with the long-term vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, while strengthening accountability, infrastructure development, and income security.

Key Highlights

  • Employment Guarantee Expanded: Increased to 125 days per rural household to strengthen income security.
  • Targeted Asset Creation: Links wage employment directly to sustainable rural infrastructure across 4 priority sectors.
  • Integrated Decentralized Planning: Empowers decentralized planning through Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans, integrated nationally via the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack.
  • Structured Funding & Governance: Transitions to a normative funding and Centrally Sponsored Scheme structure, enhancing predictability, accountability, and Centre-State partnership.

For nearly two decades, rural employment has served as a cornerstone of India's social protection framework. Since its inception in 2005, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) played a vital role in providing wage employment, stabilizing rural incomes, and creating basic infrastructure. However, over time, the socio-economic landscape and aspirations of rural India have evolved significantly. Rising income levels, expanded connectivity, widespread digital adoption, and diversified livelihood opportunities have reshaped the nature of rural employment needs.

In this context, the President of India granted assent to the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G] Act, 2025, marking a major milestone in the transformation of rural employment policy. The Act represents a comprehensive statutory overhaul of MGNREGA, aligning rural employment directly with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Key Provisions & Operational Framework

  • 125-Day Guarantee & Agricultural Alignment: Guarantees 125 days of wage employment per financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work (up from the previous 100-day limit). It incorporates a designated 60-day non-employment period during peak sowing and harvesting seasons to ensure farm labor availability, allowing workers to complete their 125 guaranteed days within the remaining 305 days of the year.
  • Timely Wage Payment: Wages must be disbursed weekly, or strictly within two weeks from the date the work was performed.
  • 4 Priority Infrastructure Pillars:
    1. Water security through water conservation and management works.
    2. Core rural infrastructure.
    3. Livelihood-enabling infrastructure.
    4. Specific interventions for climate resilience and mitigating extreme weather events.