Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Bill (VB-G RAM G Bill), 2025

The government has introduced the VB-G RAM G Bill (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission) as a replacement for the MNREGA Scheme.

About the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005

• MNREGA as a Right-Based Law: Provides at least 100 days of unskilled wage employment per financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
  • It fulfilled Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).
• Demand-Driven Nature of MNREGA: Work is provided on demand. 
  • If employment is not provided within 15 days, the government pays unemployment allowance.
• Asset Creation: Focuses on creating durable rural assets, such as water-conservation structures, roads, ponds, and irrigation channels.

Paradigm Shift

• Shift to Scheme-Based Approach under VB-G RAM G Bill: The new marks a shift from a Right-Based Approach to a Scheme-Based or Assurance Approach.
• Allocation-Driven Model: The new system is allocation-driven, meaning that work provided will be capped by the budget allocated.
• Removal of Legal Guarantee: Under VB-G RAM G Bill, there is no legal guarantee of work and no provision for unemployment allowance if work is not provided.

Concerns Over Key Provisions of the New Bill

• Dilution of Demand-Driven Right: Unlike MNREGA’s bottom-up, demand-driven model, Section 4(5) empowers the Centre to fix allocations; once funds lapse, the legal obligation to provide work ends, weakening the Right to Work.
• End of Universality: Section 5(1) allows the Centre to notify select areas, replacing universal rural coverage with a discretionary model, raising risks of exclusion and political bias.
• Unenforceable Increase in Workdays: Though workdays rise to 125, responsibility lies with States without a justiciable right, making the increase symbolic, especially given the historical 50–55 average days of employment.
• Fiscal Federalism Stress: Shifting from 100% Central wage funding to a 60:40 Centre–State ratio burdens fiscally weak states, potentially discouraging implementation and undermining cooperative federalism.

Critical Analysis of the VB-G RAM G Bill

• Anti-Poor Nature of the Bill: The new Bill is widely considered anti-poor because it removes the legal guarantee of work, undermining protections that rural workers previously enjoyed under MNREGA.
• Risk of Returning to Earlier Assurance-Based Schemes: Critics argue that the bill risks taking India back to earlier assurance-based schemes such as the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, which provided less than 10 days of average employment per year.
• Importance of MNREGA During Crises: MNREGA proved vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, acting as a social safety net and absorbing the economic shock faced by returning migrant workers, thereby preventing widespread distress.
• Missed Opportunity for Genuine Reforms: Rather than dismantling the right-based framework, critics suggest that the government should have introduced genuine reforms such as ensuring timely wage payments, improving social audits, and enhancing efficiency, which would have strengthened MNREGA without removing its core legal guarantees.

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Conclusion

The VB-G RAM G Bill reflects a shift towards outcome-oriented rural governance. However, reforms must uphold the constitutional promise of social justice, cooperative federalism, and decentralised democracy, ensuring that efficiency gains do not dilute the justiciable right to livelihood for rural workers.