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The Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, known as VB-G RAM G, has been implemented in rural areas across the entire country with effect from 1 July 2026.
It provides a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work, against 100 days under MGNREGA.
Permissible works are specified in Schedule I of the Act under four heads: water-related works, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and special works to mitigate extreme weather events.
Under Section 5(4), State Governments may provide additional days of employment beyond the statutory guarantee from their own resources.
Interim allocations of Rs 6,252.03 crore for Madhya Pradesh and Rs 4,420.32 crore for Maharashtra have been made, with first instalments of central share released.
| Aspect | MGNREGA, 2005 | VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Guaranteed days of wage employment | 100 days in a financial year per rural household | 125 days in a financial year per rural household |
| Coverage | All rural districts from 1 April 2008 | Rural areas of the entire country from 1 July 2026 |
| Nature of work | Unskilled manual work on demand | Unskilled manual work volunteered by adult members of a rural household |
| Permissible works | Specified in the Act's schedule | Schedule I: water-related works, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and special works to mitigate extreme weather events |
| Additional days beyond the guarantee | Provided for in specified circumstances | Section 5(4) allows State Governments to fund additional days from their own resources |
| Status | Repealed with effect from 1 July 2026 | In force from 1 July 2026 |
Guarantee wage employment to rural households while creating durable assets and strengthening rural livelihoods
Key: 125 days of statutory wage employment a year; Schedule I works organised around water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood infrastructure and extreme weather mitigation; in force nationwide from 1 July 2026
Provide a justiciable right to 100 days of unskilled manual wage employment on demand
Key: Came into force 2 February 2006 in 200 districts, extended to all rural districts by 1 April 2008; repealed with effect from 1 July 2026
Organise rural households into Self Help Groups and support them until incomes rise appreciably
Key: The Ministry of Rural Development's flagship poverty alleviation programme, implemented through State Rural Livelihoods Missions across 760 districts and 7,246 blocks in 34 States and UTs; 10.08 crore households mobilised into about 92 lakh SHGs as of June 2026
Give SHGs working capital and investment funds for income-generating activity
Key: Revolving Fund of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 and Community Investment Fund of up to Rs 2.50 lakh per SHG, plus interest subvention bringing loans up to Rs 3 lakh to 7 per cent a year
An ordinary welfare scheme can be scaled up or wound down by executive decision, and a household has no remedy if it is left out. A statutory guarantee is different: the entitlement is written into an Act of Parliament, so the number of days, the class of beneficiaries and the obligation to provide work all rest on legislation rather than on a budget circular. That is why the shift from 100 days to 125 days under a new Act is a legislative change and not merely an administrative one, and why Section 5(4) has to expressly authorise States to fund additional days beyond the guarantee out of their own resources — without such a provision, a State topping up the entitlement would be acting outside the statutory scheme. The constitutional backdrop is Article 41, a Directive Principle asking the State to secure the right to work within the limits of its economic capacity; the Directive Principle is not itself enforceable in court, which is precisely why the guarantee has to be given statutory form to become claimable.
Simple Analogy: A scheme is a promise in a pamphlet; a statutory guarantee is the same promise written into the contract.
Article 41 asks the State to secure the right to work; a wage employment guarantee is the statutory route by which a non-justiciable directive is made claimable
Two of the four Schedule I work categories — water-related works and special works to mitigate extreme weather events — tie rural employment directly to climate adaptation and watershed development
DAY-NRLM's interest subvention and the Rs 13.41 lakh crore of cumulative SHG lending make the mission one of the largest channels of priority sector credit to rural women
Interim allocations and Mother Sanctions of central share, with States free to add days from their own resources under Section 5(4), show the cost-sharing design of the new law
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Welfare Schemes; GS Paper 3 > Employment and Rural Economy
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Polity
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Priority Sector Lending
General Awareness > Government Schemes
Rural employment guarantee legislation is a perennial Prelims and Mains topic, and a change of statute makes it near-certain in the coming cycle
Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, the statutory rural wage employment guarantee in force from 1 July 2026
The instrument through which the Centre issues an instalment of its share of scheme funds to a State against an approved proposal
Seed capital of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 given to an SHG under DAY-NRLM to build its internal lending corpus
Support of up to Rs 2.50 lakh per SHG under DAY-NRLM for income-generating and livelihood activities
The categories of permissible works under the VB-G RAM G Act: water-related, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure and extreme weather mitigation