Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025 during the Winter Session, set to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 from July 1, 2026 with an expanded and modernised rural employment framework.
The VB-G RAM G Act 2025 raises the guaranteed workdays from 100 to 125 days per household per year, with priority allocation to women-headed households and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe families. This expansion is designed to address persistent rural unemployment and seasonal livelihood gaps.
Funding under the new Act follows a revised 60:40 Centre-State cost-sharing formula, replacing the earlier arrangement where the Centre bore most of the wage costs. States are now required to contribute 40% of the wages, incentivising greater state-level ownership and accountability in scheme implementation.
A key innovation is the integration with the Unnat Shiksha Vyavastha aur Vikas (USVV) platform, which enables digital tracking of work allocation, attendance, and wage disbursement. This aims to reduce leakages and improve last-mile delivery of benefits.
The Act also strengthens the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in planning and execution, with gram sabhas mandated to approve annual labour budgets. Rural development provisions include convergence with rural infrastructure programmes, allowing MGNREGA-equivalent work to be counted against productive asset creation in villages.
According to PRS Legislative Research, limited parliamentary scrutiny of the bill was flagged as a concern — the bill was passed in the Winter Session 2025 without referral to a standing committee.