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The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, which replaces MGNREGA and raises the rural employment guarantee to 125 days.
VB-G RAM G stands for the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. It replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 after two decades, and takes effect from 1 July. The Lok Sabha passed the Bill on 16 December 2025 and it subsequently received presidential assent. The Act retains the basic architecture of a statutory employment guarantee for rural households but changes its purpose and its financing. The guarantee rises from 100 days to 125 days a year, the minimum daily wage is set at Rs 300, and the emphasis shifts from providing work as a safety net towards creating durable assets, water security and climate-resilient rural infrastructure. It also introduces a mandatory pause during peak farming seasons and a technology-based monitoring system.
Type: Law125 days of guaranteed employment — raised from the 100 days provided under MGNREGA
Minimum daily wage of Rs 300 — a statutory floor for wages under the scheme
60-day agricultural pause — a mandatory suspension of public works during peak sowing and harvesting seasons, to keep farm labour available
Unemployment allowance — states must pay a daily allowance if work is not provided within 15 days of demand
Technology-based monitoring — AI-assisted work planning, real-time GPS tracking of worksites, and mandatory eKYC and biometric authentication of beneficiaries
Funding pattern — a centrally sponsored scheme with 60:40 Centre-state sharing for most states and 90:10 for special category states
Administrative expenditure — the limit is raised to 9% of outlay
Asset focus — priority to water conservation, irrigation, rural roads, renewable energy and climate resilience works
Frequency: A high-probability topic across UPSC, SSC and banking papers since December 2025
| Aspect | MGNREGA, 2005 | VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Guaranteed days per household | 100 days | 125 days |
| Wage | State-wise notified wage rates | Statutory minimum of Rs 300 per day |
| Seasonal pause | None | Mandatory 60-day pause during peak farming seasons |
| Primary orientation | Wage employment as a safety net | Employment linked to durable asset and infrastructure creation |
| Monitoring | Muster rolls and social audit | AI-based planning, GPS worksite tracking, eKYC and biometric authentication |
| Funding approach | Demand-driven, with the Centre obliged to meet demand | Normative allocation determined by the Centre for each state |
| Administrative expenditure limit | 6% | 9% |
MGNREGA's distinguishing feature was not the number of days it promised but the nature of the promise: it was a legal entitlement, so if rural households demanded work the government was obliged to fund it, which made the scheme automatically countercyclical — spending rose in drought years and during the pandemic without any policy decision being required. The VB-G RAM G Act raises the headline guarantee to 125 days while shifting to a normative allocation determined by the Centre, and that is the change with the largest practical consequence, because an allocation set in advance cannot expand automatically when distress rises. Supporters argue that predictable allocations improve planning and asset quality, and that the emphasis on water security and climate-resilient infrastructure produces rural assets of lasting value rather than earthworks that wash away. Critics argue that a guarantee which depends on a pre-set allocation is not a guarantee in the same sense. The 60-day agricultural pause carries a similar duality: it addresses a genuine complaint from farmers about labour shortage at sowing and harvest, but it removes the scheme precisely when landless labourers may most need a fallback if the farm work does not materialise.
VB-G RAM G: Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025
Replaces MGNREGA, 2005; passed by the Lok Sabha on 16 December 2025; effective from 1 July
Guarantee raised from 100 to 125 days per rural household per year
Minimum daily wage of Rs 300
Mandatory 60-day agricultural pause during peak sowing and harvesting
Unemployment allowance if work is not provided within 15 days of demand
Funding: 60:40 Centre-state; 90:10 for special category states
Administrative expenditure limit raised to 9%
Centre determines a normative allocation per state, replacing purely demand-driven funding
Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin). The Act of 2025 replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
125 days per rural household per year, raised from the 100 days guaranteed under MGNREGA.
A statutory minimum of Rs 300 per day.
A mandatory suspension of public works during peak sowing and harvesting seasons, intended to ensure that farm labour remains available when agriculture needs it most.
That the Centre now sets a normative allocation for each state, making funding allocation-driven rather than demand-driven, so the scheme can no longer expand automatically when rural distress rises.