Polity & Governance GS 2 In the news 3 times

VB-G RAM G

Key Departures from MGNREGA

The Viksit Bharat–G RAM G Act (2025) retains the broad objective of rural employment but introduces several structural changes that differentiate it from MGNREGA. Passed in the Lok Sabha on December 16, 2025, and receiving Presidential assent, the Act represents the government's attempt to integrate rural employment with the Viksit Bharat 2047 development mission.

Key details

Employment increase: 125 days of guaranteed work per rural household (up from 100 days under MGNREGA).
Agricultural pause: A 60-day window during peak sowing/harvesting seasons during which public works can be paused by state governments — a provision designed to ensure agricultural labour availability but criticized for potentially denying workers rights during vulnerable periods.
Normative allocations: Central funding is no longer open-ended; each state receives a "normative allocation" based on objective parameters to be prescribed. Expenditure beyond this allocation must be borne by the state — a shift from Centre-borne unlimited entitlement to a capped, shared model.
Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack: All assets created are aggregated into a national digital infrastructure database, spatially integrated with PM Gati Shakti.
Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans: Planning is decentralized at the gram panchayat level, aligned with national planning tools.
Wage linkage: Wages remain linked to CPI-AL (Consumer Price Index – Agricultural Labourers).