VB-G RAM G to come into force on July 1: govt.

The central government has notified that the Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-G RAM G) will come into force o...

What Happened

The central government has notified that the Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-G RAM G) will come into force on July 1, 2026, replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA), which will stand repealed on that date.
All ongoing MGNREGA works will continue uninterrupted until June 30, 2026, and will automatically transition into the new framework from July 1; existing e-KYC verified MGNREGA job cards remain valid until new "Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards" are issued.
States will be given up to six months from July 1 to complete the necessary transition phase, including enactment of State-level schemes under the new Act's architecture.
The VB-G RAM G Act guarantees 125 days of paid unskilled manual work per rural household per year — up from MGNREGA's 100-day guarantee — with efforts to ensure wage payment within 3 days and an unemployment allowance if work is not provided.
The Union Budget 2026–27 has allocated over Rs 95,000 crore for the programme at the Centre, with combined Centre-State annual expenditure expected to exceed Rs 1.51 lakh crore; the Centre-State cost-sharing ratio is 60:40.
The Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16, 2025 and received Presidential assent on December 20, 2025; it was passed by both Houses of Parliament within the Winter Session.

Static Topic Bridges

MGNREGA — The Law Being Replaced

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (Act 42 of 2005) came into force in February 2006, initially covering 200 of the most backward districts and progressively extended nationwide by April 2008. It created a statutory, demand-driven right to work: any adult member of a rural household willing to do unskilled manual work can apply, and the state must provide employment within 15 days of the application — or pay an unemployment allowance. The central government bears 100% of unskilled labour costs and 75% of material and skilled labour costs.

Enacted: 2005 (Act 42 of 2005); notified: February 2, 2006.
Employment guarantee: 100 days per rural household per financial year.
Wage: Statutory minimum wage for agricultural labourers (varies by state; national average around Rs 267/day in FY 2024–25).
Gender provision: At least one-third of beneficiaries must be women.
Works: Predominantly water conservation, drought-proofing, land development, rural connectivity.
Administered by: Ministry of Rural Development; MIS system called MIS-MGNREGA.
Average annual expenditure (last five years): approximately Rs 65,000–75,000 crore.

Connection to this news: MGNREGA's 100-day guarantee and 100% central funding of wages are replaced by a more expansive but also more state-cost-shared framework. The institutional learning from 21 years of MGNREGA — demand-driven, job card-based, social audit mandated — is preserved and deepened in VB-G RAM G.

VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 — Key Architecture

The Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 is structured around four pillars: (1) empowerment of rural households through enhanced employment security; (2) growth through creation of durable rural assets; (3) convergence of multiple rural development schemes at the village level; and (4) saturation coverage of eligible households and infrastructure needs. Every work must originate from the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan and aggregate into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack — linking the employment scheme to the broader Viksit Bharat @2047 development vision.

Employment guarantee: 125 days per rural household per year (up 25% from MGNREGA).
Wage payment target: within 3 days of work completion; compensation for delayed payment.
Centre-State cost-sharing: 60:40 (vs. MGNREGA's 90:10 for wages).
Administrative expenditure ceiling: raised from 6% to 9% of programme cost, to strengthen block and Gram Panchayat-level implementation capacity.
Works expanded to include: bridges, culverts, school and anganwadi buildings, SHG working sheds, Farmer Producer Organisation infrastructure — beyond MGNREGA's predominantly earthwork focus.
Contractor prohibition: retained from MGNREGA — no contractors allowed to execute works.
Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards: to replace MGNREGA job cards.

Connection to this news: The 25-day increase in guaranteed employment and the broader work typology represent a qualitative shift — from distress employment to rural infrastructure creation — while the 60:40 cost-sharing places greater fiscal responsibility on states, which may create differential implementation across richer and poorer states.

Social audit is a process whereby the government's plans, programmes, and activities are reviewed by the intended beneficiaries themselves. MGNREGA pioneered mandatory social audits under Section 17 of the Act — requiring Gram Sabhas to conduct social audits of all MGNREGA works at least twice a year. This was a legislative first in India. The VB-G RAM G Act retains and strengthens this accountability mechanism, with social audit units to be set up at the state level under the Ministry of Rural Development's framework.

MGNREGA Section 17: mandated social audits as a legal right of beneficiaries.
Social Audit Units (SAUs): established in all states under a 2016 MoRD initiative; SAUs are independent of the implementing agency.
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports have repeatedly flagged wage payment delays, ghost beneficiaries, and incomplete works under MGNREGA — issues VB-G RAM G attempts to address through the 3-day payment mandate and stronger monitoring infrastructure.

Connection to this news: The transition to VB-G RAM G retains the social audit architecture, recognising it as the primary safeguard against systemic leakages in large-scale wage employment programmes.

Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) — Fiscal Architecture

Centrally Sponsored Schemes are programmes where the central government provides grants to state governments, which share implementation responsibility. The funding ratio between Centre and states varies by scheme and by category of state (special category vs. general). MGNREGA was unusual in being a Central Sector Scheme (100% centrally funded for wages). VB-G RAM G converts this to a CSS structure with a 60:40 (Centre:State) cost-sharing ratio, making it more like schemes such as PM Awas Yojana (Gramin) or Jal Jeevan Mission.

Central Sector Schemes: 100% centrally funded; implemented directly or through agencies.
Centrally Sponsored Schemes: shared funding; implemented through state governments.
VB-G RAM G cost-sharing: Centre 60%, States 40%.
Special category states (NE states, hill states, J&K): may have a more favourable ratio — typically 90:10 — under CSS norms.
Finance Commission devolution: states that receive more devolution face higher CSS matching requirements.

Connection to this news: The shift to 60:40 sharing is fiscally significant — states will need to budget approximately Rs 60,000 crore annually under the new framework, roughly 2–3x their MGNREGA state share. States with weak finances may struggle with the transition, which is why a six-month adjustment period has been provided.

Key Facts & Data

VB-G RAM G Act, 2025: introduced Lok Sabha December 16, 2025; Presidential assent December 20, 2025.
MGNREGA enacted: 2005; in force: February 2006; being repealed: July 1, 2026 (21-year run).
Employment guarantee — MGNREGA: 100 days/household/year; VB-G RAM G: 125 days/household/year.
Budget 2026–27 allocation: Rs 95,000 crore (Centre); combined Centre-State: Rs 1.51 lakh crore.
Cost-sharing: 60:40 (Centre:State) under VB-G RAM G vs. ~90:10 for wages under MGNREGA.
Wage payment target: 3 days (VB-G RAM G) vs. 15 days (MGNREGA standard).
Administrative expenditure ceiling: 9% (VB-G RAM G) vs. 6% (MGNREGA).
Transition deadline for states: 6 months from July 1, 2026.
MGNREGA average annual persons employed: approximately 7–9 crore per year.