The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to rename the flagship rural job guarantee scheme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), to Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Yojana and revamp its operational parameters, sources said.
As per the decision, the number of guaranteed employment days for the scheme’s beneficiaries will be raised to 125/year from 100 and the minimum wage to Rs 240 per day, the sources said.
The scheme, currently fully funded by the Centre, was originally named as National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA), when it was launched by the UPA-I government. It later expanded and renamed MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005) in 2009.
Key Policy Changes
The government will likely introduce a Bill in Parliament to carry out the proposed changes.
In its report, tabled in March 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on rural development and panchayati raj had advocated increasing guaranteed workdays from 100 to 150 and raising wages to at least Rs 400 per day. The panel has also stressed on social audits to ensure its proper implementation.
Currently, state-wise rates range from approximately Rs 237 (Uttarakhand) to Rs 374 (Haryana) per day, and both men and women receive equal wages.
MGNREGS aims to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household in rural areas of the country, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work, mainly during off-seasons.
However, an average of 50 days of employment per household was provided to workers under the MGNREGA in the last five years, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Paswan said the responsibility for the implementation of the MGNREGA at the ground level lies with the respective state governments.
Misuse of MGNREGA funds by some states has been a concern for the Centre in the last few years, prompting it to tighten the norms and monitoring. The Centre has budgeted Rs 86,000 crore for the scheme for FY26, the same as in FY25.
Tackling Low Work Days
The Centre has observed that some well-off states have been diverting funds, turning the scheme into an alternative income source rather than a job guarantee for the needy during off-season periods.
Implementation of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) saved Rs 50,000 crore by eliminating 12.6 million fake and duplicate job cards under the scheme between FY15 and FY24.