VB-G RAM G Rural Job Scheme Now Allows 375 Types of Works, With a Big Push to Livelihoods
The Ministry of Rural Development notified 375 permissible works (the types of work that can be done and paid for) under the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar aur Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, called VB-G RAM G. The notification was issued on 5 October 2026.
This is a 41% increase over the 266 works allowed under the earlier framework (MGNREGA).
The works are grouped into four areas: water security (128 works), core rural infrastructure (111), livelihood-related infrastructure (98) and special works for extreme weather and disaster preparedness (38).
Livelihood-related works now make up about 26% of the list, compared with just 1.1% before. Examples include cold storage, small flour mills, dairy sheds, mushroom and sericulture sheds, poly-houses, market yards and worksheds for women's Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
The list also tags 181 agriculture and allied works (52 of them for individual beneficiaries), 107 works for Antyodaya and vulnerable households, 36 works for women (Nari Shakti) and 36 for youth (Yuva Shakti).
Works must come from each village's Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan and need the approval of the Gram Sabha.
Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar aur Ajeevika Mission, Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025
The VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 is the law that guarantees paid work to rural families. Any rural household whose adult members are willing to do unskilled manual work can ask for work, and the government must give up to 125 days of paid work in a financial year. It replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, and came into force across rural India on 1 July 2026. Besides giving work, it aims to build durable assets (long-lasting useful structures) in villages.
The new list of 375 works decides what workers under this law can actually build. By raising livelihood works from 1.1% to about 26% of the list, the government is shifting the scheme from mainly earth-work and water-work towards assets that help villagers earn a regular income.
Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP)
A Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) is the yearly plan each village panchayat makes to decide what development work it will do and how it will pay for it. Villagers, through the Gram Sabha (the meeting of all adult voters of the village), say what they need, and the panchayat matches these needs with the money available from different schemes. It puts into practice the idea in Article 243G of the Constitution that panchayats should prepare plans for economic development and social justice. Under VB-G RAM G, this village-level plan takes the form of the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan (VGPP).
The 375 works are only a menu. What actually gets built in a village depends on what the Gram Sabha chooses and writes into its Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan. A bigger menu gives villages more choice, but it also needs better local planning.
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)
The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is the central government's main programme to help poor rural families earn a steady income. It does this by bringing poor rural women together into small groups called Self-Help Groups (SHGs), linking these groups to bank loans, and helping them start or grow small businesses and farm activities. It is run by the Ministry of Rural Development. As of 2025, it had brought about 10 crore rural households into around 90 lakh SHGs.
The new list of works under VB-G RAM G includes worksheds for SHGs, agro-processing units, cold storage, small flour mills and dairy sheds. These are the very assets SHG women under DAY-NRLM need to grow their small businesses. Building them with rural job scheme funds links wage work today with livelihoods for SHG members tomorrow.
- Permissible works under VB-G RAM G: 375 (notified 5 October 2026); earlier framework: 266; increase: 41%
- Water security: 128 works; core rural infrastructure: 111; livelihood infrastructure: 98; extreme weather and disaster preparedness: 38
- Share of livelihood works: about 26% (up from 1.1%)
- Agriculture and allied works: 181 (52 for individual beneficiaries)
- Works for Antyodaya and vulnerable households: 107; Nari Shakti: 36; Yuva Shakti: 36
- Works must come from the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan and be approved by the Gram Sabha
- VB-G RAM G: 125 days of guaranteed work; in force from 1 July 2026; funding 60:40 (90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan states)