The Union Ministry of Rural Development on 12 May 2026 notified the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, popularly called VB-G RAM G, which will come into force across all rural areas of India from 1 July 2026 and will repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 from the same date. Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan confirmed the notification, stating that the new statute increases the statutory rural employment guarantee from 100 days to 125 days per financial year for every household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work. The Central Government has allocated Rs 95,692.31 crore as the Union share for FY 2026-27, with the total programme outlay expected to exceed Rs 1.51 lakh crore once state shares are added, making it the largest rural employment outlay at the Budget Estimate stage in India's history. Wage payments are to be released within 15 days of muster closure, with a delay compensation of 0.05 per cent per day on unpaid wages. The Act focuses on four thematic domains, namely water security, rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and mitigation of extreme weather events. Priority works under VB-G RAM G include watershed development, groundwater recharge, irrigation, rainwater harvesting, afforestation, rural roads, schools, Anganwadi centres, sanitation, renewable energy facilities and housing-linked assets. The Bill was passed by Parliament on 18-19 December 2025 and received Presidential assent thereafter, replacing a 20-year-old rights-based law that had been operational since 2005.