At a time the southwest monsoon is expected to be seriously deficient, all eyes will be on the rollout of a new rural employment guarantee programme from the start of this month. This is the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, (VB-G Ram G) which replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) that was operational since 2005.
As El Niño-driven rainfall deficiency usually entails drought conditions, contingency plans such as providing employment in the affected districts are the need of the moment. Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has stated that the government’s priority was to ensure that “no eligible rural worker remains without work even for a single day”. Among the important changes in VB-G Ram G from MGNREGA is that it offers every household 125 days of paid work every year from 100 days in the latter.
Allocation-Based Framework
What also differentiates VB-G Ram G from MGNREGA is that the latter was demand-driven as it sought to provide a universal, self-targeting guarantee of employment to every rural household. The new scheme instead is allocation-based with a 60:40 fund-sharing ratio between the Centre and states. “This means that if the state government does not release its share of funds, workers will be hit by a lack of work,” argued Nikhil Dey, member of the MGNREGA Sangharsh Morcha.
Another major difference is that under VB-G RAM G, states are empowered to notify periods up to 60 days during peak sowing and harvesting seasons when works shall not be undertaken. This is perhaps to address the needs of farmers in the vanguard agrarian states who have been explicit about their concerns over the years that guaranteed employment with higher wages has been affecting the availability of farm labour during peak agricultural operations.
VB-G Ram G has replaced MGNREGA as the ruling dispensation was not really comfortable administering a scheme crafted by rights activists. It was even derided as a “monument of failure” of the previous United Progressive Alliance regime headed by Manmohan Singh. To be sure, there were a number of problems with MGNREGA, including the rampant misuse of funds, workers not being paid on time, declining share of expenditure against available funds, and falling percentage of completed works.
But even the official Economic Survey 2025-26 noted that MGNREGA “provided wage employment, stabilised rural incomes, and created basic infrastructure, offering at least 100 days of guaranteed unskilled work to rural households”. However, it added that enhanced connectivity, widespread digital adoption, and diversified livelihoods have transformed rural employment requirements, emphasising the need to reassess the scheme’s design and aims.
Monsoon Contingencies
VB-G RAM G must therefore build on what MGNREGA achieved and take it forward. It has to hit the ground running as 315 districts across 12 states are likely to receive below-normal rainfall this year with 111 of them being the most vulnerable. All of this underscores the need for district-specific employment generation strategies, among others, to tackle drought conditions stalking the countryside. An interim allocation of Rs 95,692 crore has been made to the various states to ensure a smooth transition to VB-G RAM G. More than 100 officials have also been deputed to various districts and talukas to ensure that MGNREGA workers don’t face any hardship as VB-G RAM G faces its real test in handling the fallout of a deficient monsoon this year.