New Delhi, Dec. 21 -- President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday gave her assent to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, which replaces the MGNREGA and has a provision for 125 days of wage employment for rural workers.
With the presidential assent, it now becomes the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, and a notification in this regard was published in the Gazette of India.
The Rural Development Ministry, in a statement, called it a decisive reform in India's rural employment and development framework.
According to the government, the VB-G RAM G scheme, which has replaced Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, aims to establish a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of 'Viksit Bharat 2047'.
Besides providing for 125 days of wage employment, the Act also facilitates adequate availability of agricultural labour during peak sowing and harvesting seasons by empowering states to notify a pause period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, the Ministry said.
It stressed that the Act seeks to transform rural employment from a standalone welfare intervention into an integrated instrument of development.
The Bill was passed in the Parliament last week amid protests by the Opposition.
The Congress, which continued its protests in various parts of the country against the new scheme on Sunday, accused the Modi
government of "desecrating the groundbreaking law" MGNREGA in Parliament and said that two decades of progress have been overturned "without consultation" and by sidestepping all Parliamentary conventions.
Dismissing criticism of the Bill, Rural Development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday alleged that misinformation is being spread about the new scheme, which he described as a step ahead of MGNREGA.
In a video posted on X, the minister said that over Rs 1,51,282 crore will be allocated for VB-G RAM G scheme to ensure adequate funds for rural employment.
"There is a conspiracy to misguide the country, and false information is being spread, while the truth is that the VB-G RAM G scheme is a step ahead of MGNREGA," Chouhan said.
The ministry said the Act replaces MGNREGA with a modern statutory framework that enhances livelihood security and is aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
It strengthens income security for rural households, modernises governance and accountability, and links wage employment with the creation of durable and productive rural assets, thereby laying the foundation for a prosperous and resilient Rural India.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.