New Delhi: The Centre Monday announced that the new Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, will come into force across India from July 1, replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The government presented the legislation as a “next-generation rural development framework” aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, promising an expansion of guaranteed wage employment from 100 days to 125 days a year while linking rural employment more closely with infrastructure creation, climate resilience and village-level planning.
However, opposition parties and labour rights activists have raised concerns over the repeal of MGNREGA, arguing that the existing law had evolved into a rights-based social protection framework and warning that increased digitisation, face-authentication attendance and administrative restructuring could create barriers for vulnerable workers.
What changes under the new law?
Under the new Act, every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work will be entitled to 125 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year, up from 100 days under MGNREGA.
The Centre said the scheme will focus on four broad categories of works – water security projects; core rural infrastructure; livelihood-related infrastructure; and extreme weather mitigation works.
Under MGNREGA, work was divided into broad categories such as water conservation, drought-proofing, irrigation, renovation of traditional water bodies, land development, and flood control.
The law also introduces the concept of “Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans” (VGPPs), which will serve as convergence-based local development plans prepared by Gram Panchayats and approved by Gram Sabhas.
According to the government, all works under the Act must emerge from these village development plans to ensure “need-based and saturation-focused” rural development.
How will the transition happen?
The Centre has said the transition from MGNREGA to the new law will be “seamless and uninterrupted”. MGNREGA will formally stand repealed from July 1, 2026, the same date on which the VB-G RAM G Act comes into effect.
Existing MGNREGA works will continue and will be migrated into the new framework. The government has said incomplete public assets and ongoing projects will be prioritised for completion.
Existing job cards will also remain valid temporarily for workers whose e-KYC has already been completed, until new “Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards” are issued.
The government has further clarified that fresh works can also be opened during the transition phase if ongoing works are insufficient to meet labour demand.
What remains unchanged?
Employment must still be provided within 15 days of demand, failing which workers become eligible for unemployment allowance payable by the state governments.
Wages will continue to be paid through direct benefit transfer into bank or post office accounts and must be disbursed weekly or within a fortnight after closure of the muster roll.
The law also retains provisions for compensation in case of delayed wage payments.
What are the new administrative features?
Attendance at worksites will be captured through a face authentication-based system, although the government said exceptions would be allowed in cases of poor connectivity, technical problems or other genuine difficulties.
Another important feature is the restriction on undertaking works during peak agricultural seasons, which states will notify to avoid labour shortages during sowing and harvesting periods.
How will funding work?
The funding patterns for states under the scheme is 90:10 for northeastern and Himalayan states; 60:40 for other states and Union Territories with legislatures, and 100 per cent central funding for Union Territories without legislatures.
The material component expenditure has been capped at 40 per cent at the district level. Under MGNREGS, 100 per cent of the wages were paid by the Centre, while the material cost would be shared 75:25 between the Centre and the states.
Why does the government say the new law is needed?
The government argues that the new framework modernises rural employment by integrating livelihood support, infrastructure creation and climate resilience.
Officials say the law seeks to move beyond a “demand-driven wage programme” towards a convergence-based development model with stronger planning at the village level.
The inclusion of infrastructure linked to extreme weather mitigation is also being projected as a response to increasing climate vulnerabilities in rural India.
The Centre has additionally highlighted the enhanced employment guarantee of 125 days and provisions for uninterrupted work availability during the transition period.
What are the concerns being raised?
Opposition parties and rights activists have questioned the decision to repeal MGNREGA entirely instead of strengthening the existing framework.
The MGNREGS is demand-driven, meaning the government has to allocate additional funds if there is demand for work. The VB-G RAM G Bill provides for normative allocation to states, and any expenditure beyond it has to be borne by the state governments.
Some activists fear that mandatory face-authentication attendance could exclude workers in remote areas with weak digital connectivity or elderly workers facing authentication failures.
Others have raised concerns over the emphasis on convergence and planning, arguing that the scheme’s original strength lay in its legal guarantee of immediate wage employment rather than long-term development targets.
There are also apprehensions that restricting work during peak agricultural seasons may reduce earning opportunities for landless labourers.
Critics have further demanded clarity on whether the enhanced 125-day guarantee will be backed by adequate budgetary allocations, noting that delays in wage payments and fund releases had already emerged as recurring issues under MGNREGA.
PTI
