New Delhi: The Union Government is preparing to roll out the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission (Rural), or VB-G RAM G, as a full replacement for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Framed as a key pillar of the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, the new scheme promises greater work options linked to long-term development goals and has already set off a sharp political fight.
Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is expected to introduce the bill in Parliament soon. The proposal promises 125 days of work each year for rural households, an increase over MGNREGA’s 100 days. Funding will no longer rest entirely with the Centre. VB-G RAM G requires both the central and state governments to share costs, with different contribution levels for different states. The government says the change is meant to increase accountability, with a new A-to-C grading system for panchayats based on performance, AI-based fraud detection, and social audits twice a year.
Four focus areas, namely water security, core infrastructure, livelihood support, and seasonal interventions, form the foundation of the scheme. To deal with labour shortages on farms, states can halt public work during sowing periods and give workers up to 60 days of paid leave in phases.
The move has stirred anger over both politics and symbolism. The acronym VB-G RAM G has drawn fire from opponents who say the use of “RAM” carries religious overtones. Congress leaders have condemned the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the programme, calling it a “sin” that breaks faith with the original idea behind MGNREGA.
Party general secretary K C Venugopal accused the government of weakening a Congress-era safety net that had guaranteed work backed fully by the Centre and of now shifting up to 40 per cent of the financial load onto the states. “MGNREGA was rural India’s sanjeevani; its elimination is its destruction,” he said in Parliament.
The outcome of the debate will shape how money and power move between the Centre and the states in rural employment. Both supporters and critics are eager to scrutinise the implementation details and determine whether VB-G RAM G can broaden work opportunities without undermining the hard-earned rights of rural labourers.