Govt to bring 'G RAM G' to replace UPA's MGNREGS

The Union government is set to propose a new federal jobs scheme, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G, to replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that was a showpiece of the previous United Progressive Alliance administration.

- Saubhadra Chatterji and Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Copies of the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, were circulated on Monday, and it is listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. However, it has sparked controversy, with government officials saying it aligns with the vision of a developed India by 2047 and the Opposition criticising the dropping of Gandhi's name from the flagship scheme.

The new scheme proposes to provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work. Within six months from the date of commencement of the VB-G RAM G Act, states will have to make a scheme consistent with the provisions of the new law, the bill says.

“In the vastly changed circumstances of today, a transformational approach to rural development is essential to achieve the objectives of Viksit Bharat @2047...It is imperative to engage the rural workforce more effectively to support the vision of Viksit Bharat, while empowering them through enhanced livelihood guarantee. Therefore, the Government has resolved to enhance the wage-employment guarantee for rural households from 100 days to 125 days per financial year for anchoring rural asset creation through the enactment of an appropriate act," Union rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a statement of objects and reasons of the bill. The Congress attacked the government. "The Congress party will strongly oppose in Parliament and on the streets any such decision of this arrogant regime that is against the poor and workers. We will not allow the rights of crores of poor people, labourers, and workers to be snatched away by those in power," party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said on X.

The new scheme proposes a major departure from the MGNREGS framework on three key parameters - funding, availability of work, and central oversight over disbursal of funds.