India, Dec. 21 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
The President of India has given assent to the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 marking a significant milestone in the transformation of rural employment policy. The Act enhances the statutory wage employment guarantee to 125 days per financial year for rural households and seeks to advance empowerment, inclusive growth, convergence of development initiatives and saturation-based delivery, thereby strengthening the foundation for a prosperous, resilient and self-reliant Rural Bharat.
Earlier, Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, marking a decisive reform in India's rural employment and development framework. The Act replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 with a modern statutory framework that enhances livelihood security and is aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.
Anchored in the principles of empowerment, growth, convergence and saturation, the Act seeks to transform rural employment from a standalone welfare intervention into an integrated instrument of development. It strengthens income security for rural households, modernises governance and accountability, and links wage employment with the creation of durable and productive rural assets, thereby laying the foundation for a prosperous and resilient Rural Bharat.
Salient Features of the Act
Enhanced Statutory Employment Guarantee
Balanced Provision for Agriculture and Rural Labour
Timely Wage Payments
Employment Linked with Productive Rural Infrastructure
Wage employment under the Act is explicitly aligned with the creation of durable public assets across four priority thematic domains (Section 4(2) read with Schedule I):
All works are planned through a bottom-up process, and all assets created are aggregated into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, ensuring convergence of public investments, avoidance of fragmentation, and outcome-based planning aimed at saturation of critical rural infrastructure, based on varying local needs.
Decentralised Planning with National Convergence
Reformed Financial Architecture
Strengthened Administrative Capacity
The Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 represents a decisive step towards renewing and strengthening India's rural employment framework in line with the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047. By enhancing the statutory wage employment guarantee to 125 days per financial year, the Act reinforces the right to demand employment while deepening decentralised, participatory governance. It integrates transparent, rule-based funding, accountability mechanisms, technology-enabled inclusion and convergence-driven development to ensure that rural employment not only provides income security but also contributes to sustainable livelihoods, resilient assets and long-term rural prosperity.
Employment Guarantee and Right to Demand
The Act does not dilute the right to demand employment. On the contrary, Section 5(1) places a clear statutory obligation on the Government to provide not less than 125 days of guaranteed wage employment to eligible rural households. The expansion of guaranteed days, together with strengthened accountability and grievance redressal mechanisms, reinforces the enforceability of this right.
Normative Funding and Employment Provision
The shift to normative allocations pertains to budgeting and fund-flow mechanisms and does not affect the legal entitlement to employment. Sections 4(5) and 22(4) ensure rule-based, predictable allocations while retaining the statutory obligation to provide employment or unemployment allowance.
Decentralisation and Role of Panchayats
The Act does not centralise planning or execution. Sections 16 to 19 vest planning, implementation and monitoring authority in Panchayats, Programme Officers and District authorities at appropriate tiers. What is integrated at the national level is visibility, coordination and convergence, not local decision-making.
Employment and Asset Creation
The Act enshrines an enhanced statutory livelihood guarantee of 125 days, while ensuring that employment contributes to productive, durable and climate-resilient assets. Employment generation and asset creation are designed as mutually reinforcing objectives, supporting long-term rural growth and resilience (Section 4(2) and Schedule I).
Technology and Inclusion
Technology under the Act is intended as an enabling mechanism, not a barrier. Sections 23 and 24 provide for technology-enabled transparency through biometric authentication, geo-tagging and real-time dashboards, while Section 20 strengthens social audits by Gram Sabhas, ensuring community oversight, transparency and inclusion.
Unemployment Allowance
The Act removes earlier dis-entitlement provisions and restores unemployment allowance as a meaningful statutory safeguard. Where employment is not provided within the stipulated period, unemployment allowance becomes payable after fifteen days.
Conclusion
The passage of the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 represents a significant renewal of India's rural employment guarantee. By expanding statutory employment to 125 days, embedding decentralised and participatory planning, strengthening accountability, and institutionalising convergence and saturation-based development, the Act repositions rural employment as a strategic instrument for empowerment, inclusive growth and the creation of a prosperous and resilient Rural Bharat, fully aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
