New Delhi, Dec. 16 -- The Union government is set to propose a new federal jobs scheme, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G, to replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that was a showpiece of the previous United Progressive Alliance administration. Copies of the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, were circulated on Monday, and it is listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. However, it has sparked controversy, with government officials saying it aligns with the vision of a developed India by 2047 and the Opposition criticising the dropping of Gandhi's name from the flagship scheme. The new scheme proposes to provide a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work. Within six months from the date of commencement of the VB-G RAM G Act, states will have to make a scheme consistent with the provisions of the new law, the bill says. "In the vastly changed circumstances of today, a transformational approach to rural development is essential to achieve the objectives of Viksit Bharat @2047.It is imperative to engage the rural workforce more effectively to support the vision of Viksit Bharat, while empowering them through enhanced livelihood guarantee. Therefore, the Government has resolved to enhance the wage-employment guarantee for rural households from 100 days to 125 days per financial year for anchoring rural asset creation through the enactment of an appropriate act," Union rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a statement of objects and reasons of the bill. The Congress attacked the government. "The Congress party will strongly oppose in Parliament and on the streets any such decision of this arrogant regime that is against the poor and workers. We will not allow the rights of crores of poor people, labourers, and workers to be snatched away by those in power," party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said on X. The new scheme proposes a major departure from the MGNREGS framework on three key parameters - funding, availability of work, and central oversight over disbursal of funds. On funding, the bill proposes that the financial liability will be shared between the Centre and the state governments in a 90:10 proportion for northeastern and Himalayan states, and 60:40 proportion for all other states and Union territories with a legislature. For UTs without a legislature, the whole cost will be borne by the Centre. On availability, the bill proposes to pause the programme during the farming season to ensure availability of farm workers, a first such step in a federal programme. "The state governments shall notify in advance, a period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting, during which works under this act, shall not be undertaken," the bill said. On central oversight, the bill proposed that the central government shall determine the state-wise normative allocation for each financial year, based on objective parameters as may be prescribed by the Union. The MGNREGS was a 100% centrally sponsored scheme. MGNREGS was a demand-driven scheme with the Union government bound to allocate more money for additional demand for work. But under the proposed scheme, the Centre will determine state-wise normative allocation for each financial year. Any expenditure incurred by a state in excess would be borne by the state government. The wage rate will be specified by the central government through a notification. The bill says it should not be less than the prevailing wage rates under MGNREGS. Until a wage rate is notified by the Centre, MGNREGS wage rates will continue to apply in the areas covered by the new act. "The primary objective of the bill is to align the rural development framework with the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 by providing an enhanced statutory wage-employment guarantee of 125 days in each financial year to such rural households whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work, thereby enabling them to participate more effectively in the expanded livelihood security framework," Chouhan said in the statement of objects and reasons of the bill. Senior government officials said on the condition of anonymity that the new act focuses on four major types of works -- water security (conservation, irrigation, rejuvenation of water bodies, afforestation, etc); core rural infrastructure (activities such as construction and upgradation of rural roads, panchayat bhawans, anganwadi, etc); livelihood-related infrastructure creation (creation of assets to enhance rural likelihood such as training centres, rural haats, grain storage, etc); and climate adaptation (activities related to disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation). "The new act represents a major upgrade over MGNREGA, fixing structural weaknesses while enhancing employment, transparency, planning, and accountability while focusing on durable assets that directly support water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure creation and climate adaptation," said an official, requesting anonymity. Officials said that apart from strengthening the rural economy through higher incomes and better resilience, the proposed scheme will reduce distress migration with more rural opportunities. "According to the provisions, farmers will benefit directly through both labour availability and better agricultural infrastructure. Labourers will stand to gain from higher guaranteed days, better wages, strong protections, and transparent systems and unemployment Allowance If work is not given, states must pay unemployment allowance," an official said. The bill says if an applicant isn't provided employment within 15 days, he is entitled to a daily unemployment allowance. The scheme will be managed by a Central Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Council, formed by the Union government. "The Central Council shall consist of chairperson, representatives of central government and state governments, not more than 15 non-official members representing panchayati raj Institutions, organisations of workers and weaker section of the society and a member-secretary not below the rank of joint secretary to the Government of India." MGNREGS was handled directly by the Union rural development ministry, without any special council or body. The bill said every state will also constitute a state council to be known as the State Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Council. The central government will also form a national level steering committee to recommend decisions relating to normative allocations to states and to advise on matters requiring inter-ministerial consultation, including convergence framework and to provide high level oversight for the effective implementation of this act. The states too, will have steering committees. The scheme allows panchayats at the district, intermediate and village levels to be the principal authorities for the planning, implementation and monitoring of the scheme. Enacted in 2005, MGNREGA was a showpiece of the Congress-led UPA and sat at the heart of its social protection framework. The 20-year-old law is credited for establishing a floor for rural wages, creating a durable cushion to stop marginal rural families from slipping into destitution, and buoying the Congress during its surprisingly robust performance in 2009. But it has also faced major criticism over corruption, opaque processes, poor quality works and long-delayed payments. In 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed concerns that the utilisation of the funds earmarked for MGNREGS was skewed in favour of more affluent states instead of poorer states, two senior officials said, asking not to be named. "The PM made a valid point that the programme is aimed at poverty alleviation, but the poorer states are not getting the required share of the MGNREGS funds," one of the officials present at the meeting said. Modi had also pointed out anomalies in the amount of work in different states that need to be addressed, the second official said. "The PM said that in some states, a MGNREGA beneficiary has to work equivalent to digging a 2ft hole in the ground, whereas in some other states more labour would be required to complete a person day," said the second official, who was also present at the meeting....