Last week, Opposition parties led by the Congress Party created hungama in Parliament when Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill (VB G RAM G)was passed. This bill replaces the earlier 2005 bill passed under the UPA 1, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and raises the number of days of wage employment to 125 days from 100 for unskilled workers in rural areas. According to the government, this bill is expected to benefit the rural economy through improved water security, enhanced rural infrastructure, increased livelihood assets, enhanced climate resilience, higher employment, and increased consumption. The bill also aims to reduce migration distress.
The key difference between the two frameworks is summarised below:
1 Work Guarantee
- MGNREGA– Statutorily guaranteed 100 days of work per rural household.
- VB G RAM G– Enhanced to 225 days of guaranteed wage employment.
2 Funding Model
- MGNREGA– demand-driven; central government paid 100% of unskilled wages.
- VB G RAM G– Supply-driven (Capped), Shared funding of 60:40 (centre-State) for most states.
3 Agricultural Pause
- MGNREGA– Work available year-around upon demand.
- VB G RAM G– Includes a 60-day pause during peak agricultural seasons (sowing/harvesting)
4 Work Scope
- MGNREGA– Broad Categories (e.g. water bodies, land development).
- VB G RAM G– Narrowed to 4 priority domains: water security, core infrastructure, livelihoods, and climate resilience.
5 Planning Approach
- MGNREGA– bottom up, Gram Panchayats identified projects locally.
- VB G RAM G– Integrated; works originate from Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans linked to the national PM Gati-Shakti system.
6 Technology Use
- MGNREGA– basic digital attendance and bank transfers.
- VB G RAM G– Advanced; AI-assisted fraud detection, GPS monitoring and biometric authentication.
Key Structural Changes
- Funding Responsibility: Unlike MGNREGA, where the Centre bore the entire wage burden, VB G RAM G requires States to contribute 40% of costs (10% for Himalayan/North Eastern States).
- Operational Shift: The new Act moves from ‘right-based’ model where workers could demand job anytime, to an executive scheme with pre-approved plans and specific ‘black-out’ periods during farming months to ensure labour availability.
- Skill development: While MGNREGA focused on manual labour, VB G RAM G emphasizes upskilling rural workers in areas like digital literacy and agri-tech to foster rural entrepreneurship.
Despite its successes in alleviating poverty and creating rural infrastructure, MGNREGA had its share problems, implementation challenges such as wage delays, corrupt practices, and misuse of funds persisted. The program was often criticized for not providing sufficient skills development or sustainable long-term economic growth. These limitations likely contributed to the shift toward the VB G RAM G framework.
However, the opposition is claiming that the new initiative is not only an attempt to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name, but a measure to dilute the effectiveness of the employment, putting more burden of State governments, making the scheme ineffective. One more point on which opposition parties have indirectly made reference is that there is name of Lord RAM in this new bill, and they are referring VB G RAM G.
On this , my opinion is that till date name of the schemes have been changed by all the governments whether ruled by Congress or BJP or any other parties, this point is irrelevant. Secondly why State governments can not share the burden of giving employment to people living in their States, it is not the responsibility of the Central government only.
One more aspect of VB G RAM G bill is that that it is more attuned to the idea of rural entrepreneurship and partnerships with the private sector. MGNREGA, in contrast remained more government-centric, with limited involvement of the private sector. The move towards fostering businesses in rural areas could stimulate innovation and create diverse income soures for the population.
The shift from MGNREGA to the VB G RAM G bill marks a pivotal movement in India’s approach to rural employment and development. By focusing on skill development, entrepreneurship, and technology VB G RAM G aims to transform rural India into a hub of sustainable growth.
However, questions remain about whether the government can effectively implement this ambitious plan. The success of this bill will depend on local capacities, the willingness of communities to adopt new technologies, and ability to foster public-private partnerships.
The problem with the opposition is that they just want to oppose, remember how few years back they strongly opposed about the digital payments saying that how rural and uneducated people will use smart phones to make digital payments, and you all know how the digital payments became successful pan India with in short span of time.
In the end, only time will tell how, how VB G RAM G program will perform in the rural area.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
22nd December 2025