PIB TrackerMGNREGA's successor comes into force, raising the work guarantee to 125 days
The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G] Act, 2025 came into force nationwide from 1 July 2026, replacing MGNREGA and giving eligible rural households a statutory entitlement to 125 days of guaranteed wage employment, up from 100.
What happened
- The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G, Act, 2025 came into force across the country from 1 July 2026, per the Ministry of Rural Development.
- As the successor to MGNREGA, 2005, it raises the statutory guarantee of wage employment from 100 to 125 days per rural household in a financial year.
- The Government notified revised wage rates for all States, UTs and notified wage areas: no notified daily wage will be below ₹300, and the national average notified wage rises from ₹298.8 to ₹327.4 per day — over 10%.
- States including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh saw wage increases of 15–25%, and an interim allocation of ₹95,692.31 crore was released to States and UTs.
- A National Launch Programme is scheduled for 2 July 2026 at Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh, featuring the distribution of Rural Employment Guarantee Cards and the launch of the VB-G RAM G software platform.
For Prelims
- VB-G RAM G Act, 2025: The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, passed by Parliament in December 2025 and in force from 1 July 2026; it replaces MGNREGA and guarantees 125 days of unskilled wage employment per rural household per year.
- MGNREGA, 2005: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (enacted 2005) — a rights-based, demand-driven law giving every rural household a legal entitlement to 100 days of unskilled manual wage employment a year.
- Legal right to work: MGNREGA made work a justiciable entitlement; if work is not provided within 15 days of demand, the applicant is due an unemployment allowance — a design VB-G RAM G carries forward.
- Article 41 (DPSP): A Directive Principle directing the State to secure the right to work, to education and to public assistance; MGNREGA and its successor operationalise this non-justiciable directive as a statutory right.
- Gram Sabha & social audit: Under MGNREGA the Gram Sabha recommends and prioritises works, and a mandatory social audit (Section 17) is held to verify muster rolls and works — a transparency mechanism retained under the new Act.
- Ministry & rollout: Administered by the Ministry of Rural Development; the Government released an interim allocation of ₹95,692.31 crore and notified a floor daily wage of ₹300 for the rollout.
- Don't confuse: The Act was notified earlier and has now come into force from 1 July 2026 — it is the enforcement/rollout of a passed law, not a fresh Bill; and it replaces MGNREGA rather than adding a parallel scheme.
For UPSC: The VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 came into force on 1 July 2026, replacing MGNREGA and lifting the wage-employment guarantee from 100 to 125 days per rural household. Anchor the MGNREGA framework it succeeds — the 2005 rights-based, demand-driven law, the legal right to work rooted in Article 41 (DPSP), the 15-day-or-allowance rule, Gram Sabha planning and mandatory social audit — then revise rural livelihood and poverty-alleviation policy.
What it is NOT: This is the Act coming into force (its rollout from 1 July 2026), not a new Bill being introduced — the law was passed and notified earlier. It replaces MGNREGA rather than running alongside it, and the guarantee is 125 days per rural household, not per individual worker.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS2.10 · GS2.14 · Linkage L1
Anchor
Rural livelihood security and the right to work — a rights-based, demand-driven wage-employment guarantee as an anti-poverty and social-protection instrument.
Substantiation (data)
VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 in force from 1 July 2026 raises the guarantee from 100 to 125 days; floor daily wage set at ₹300, national average up from ₹298.8 to ₹327.4; ₹95,692.31 crore released for rollout.
Exemplification
Cite the shift from MGNREGA (2005) — the world's largest work-guarantee programme rooted in Article 41 (DPSP), with Gram Sabha planning and social audits — to its 125-day successor.
Problematisation
Persistent concerns include delayed wage payments, wages trailing state minimum wages, fund-flow and demand-vs-allocation gaps, exclusion errors, and the strength of social-audit and grievance-redress mechanisms.
Way-forward
Ensure timely digital wage payments, adequate and predictable funding, strong social audits and grievance redress, and asset durability so employment translates into lasting rural infrastructure and productivity.
Position
Government stance: raising the guarantee to 125 days with higher notified wages strengthens rural livelihood security, women-led development and durable asset creation.
Deploys into: Rural employment & livelihood security · MGNREGA and its VB-G RAM G successor · right to work and Article 41 (DPSP) · poverty alleviation and social protection (GS2.10 government policies & interventions, GS2.14 poverty & hunger).
Ministry of Rural Development · 2026-07-01 · PRID 2279995 · PIB source ↗