Centre Plans New Rural Jobs Law To Replace MGNREGA, Raise Guarantee To 125 Days

The Union government is preparing a new rural employment guarantee law that will formally scrap the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and replace it with the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB‑G RAM G Bill, 2025. The proposed framework raises the statutory job guarantee from 100 to 125 days per rural household while rewriting funding rules, work categories and monitoring systems in line with the government’s “Viksit Bharat 2047” vision.

What The New VB‑G RAM G Bill Proposes

According to drafts shared with MPs and reported by several outlets, the VB‑G RAM G law will guarantee 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work, up from the 100‑day entitlement under MGNREGA. Job‑seekers will continue to have a legal right to work and to unemployment allowance from the state government if work is not provided within 15 days of demanding it.

The Bill reorganises permissible works into four broad categories – water security, rural infrastructure, livelihood infrastructure and disaster resilience – with an emphasis on durable assets such as ponds, check dams, village roads and climate‑resilient projects. It also proposes a two‑month “pause” on scheme works during peak agricultural seasons so that labour is available for farming, addressing long‑standing complaints from cultivators about worker shortages during sowing and harvest.

Funding Changes: More Responsibility For States

One of the biggest shifts is in the funding model: instead of the largely demand‑driven central allocation under MGNREGA, VB‑G RAM G will move to “normative” state‑wise budgets calculated on parameters such as rural population, poverty levels and past utilisation. The Centre will fix an annual allocation for each state; any spending beyond this limit will have to be borne by the state government from its own resources.

The Bill retains the broad Centre–state cost‑sharing pattern, but introduces a National Steering Committee in Delhi and similar bodies in states to oversee allocations, convergence with other schemes and performance. Critics argue that capping central funds and pushing extra costs to states could weaken the “on demand” nature of the guarantee, especially in poorer regions with limited fiscal capacity.

Digital Monitoring, Wage Payments And Transparency

To address delays and leakages, the draft law mandates stricter wage timelines and technology‑based monitoring, with payments to be completed within 7–15 days after work is done and penalties in the form of unemployment allowance for longer delays. The implementation design relies heavily on geotagged work sites, biometric attendance, and online muster rolls and social audits to track projects and worker payments in real time.

Panchayats at village, block and district level will remain the primary implementing authorities, preparing annual development plans and identifying works, while district programme coordinators and state employment councils supervise execution and audits. Supporters within the government say this will make the programme more asset‑oriented and outcomes‑driven rather than just a wage disbursal platform.

Political Reactions And Concerns

Opposition parties, especially the Congress, have accused the Centre of trying to “erase” Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the landmark rural jobs programme and of diluting the demand‑driven right‑to‑work character by fixing state‑wise budgets and seasonal pauses. Several labour economists and activists warn that workers who rely on scheme wages during peak farm seasons could be forced to accept lower, informal farm wages, shifting bargaining power back to big landlords.

The government counters that raising guaranteed days to 125, tightening wage timelines and linking works with long‑term rural infrastructure actually strengthen the programme and ensure better value for public money. With the Bill expected to be taken up during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, a heated political debate is likely as ruling and opposition benches clash over how to balance fiscal limits, farmer concerns and rural workers’ rights.

For rural workers and panchayats, the real test will be whether the new law maintains easy access to work on demand while delivering faster payments and more durable assets, or whether tighter budgets and seasonal pauses create fresh bottlenecks on the ground.