VB-G RAM G Bill gets nod from President Droupadi Murmu, set to become law

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday gave assent to the Viksit Bharat – Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–G RAM G) Bill 2025, marking a significant milestone in the transformation of rural employment policy, according to a statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat.

VB-G RAM G Bill approved by President Murmu

Earlier, Parliament passed the Viksit Bharat – Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, which marks a decisive reform in India’s rural employment and development framework. Based on the principles of empowerment, growth, convergence and saturation, the Law aims to transform rural employment from a standalone welfare intervention to an integrated development tool. It strengthens income security for rural households, modernizes governance and accountability, and links wage employment with the creation of resilient and productive rural assets, thus laying the foundation for a prosperous and resilient Rural Bharat.

The passage of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 represents a significant renewal of India’s rural employment guarantee. By increasing statutory employment to 125 days, incorporating decentralized and participatory planning, strengthening accountability and institutionalizing development based on convergence and saturation, the Act repositions rural employment as a strategic tool for empowerment, inclusive growth and creation of a prosperous and resilient Rural Bharat, fully aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.

Viksit Bharat–Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Guarantee (Gramin) (VB–G RAM G) Bill, 2025: How is it a turning point in rural employment?

The law increases the statutory wage employment guarantee for rural households to 125 days per fiscal year. It aims to advance empowerment, inclusive growth, convergence of development initiatives and saturation-based delivery, thereby strengthening the foundation for a prosperous, resilient and self-reliant Rural Bharat. The Act provides a legal guarantee of at least 125 days of paid employment per rural household in each financial year to households whose adult members volunteer to perform unskilled manual work (Section 5(1)). This improvement over the previous 100-day entitlement significantly strengthens livelihood security, job predictability and income stability for rural households, while also enabling them to contribute more effectively to national development. To facilitate adequate availability of agricultural labor during peak planting and harvest seasons, the Act authorizes States to declare a total standstill period totaling sixty days in a fiscal year (Section 6). The full 125-day employment guarantee remains intact and will be provided for the remaining period, Calibrated balance supporting both agricultural productivity and worker safety.

The Viksit Bharat – Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Guarantee (Gramin) Bill, 2025 represents a decisive step towards revamping and strengthening India’s rural employment framework in line with the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047. By increasing the legal guarantee of paid employment to 125 days per fiscal year, the law strengthens the right to seek employment while deepening decentralized, participatory governance. It integrates transparent, rules-based funding, accountability mechanisms, technology-enabled participation and convergence-driven development to ensure that rural employment not only provides income security but also contributes to sustainable livelihoods, resilient assets and long-term rural prosperity. The law does not dilute the right to seek employment. On the contrary, Section 5(1) imposes a clear legal obligation on the Government to provide at least 125 days of guaranteed paid employment to eligible rural households. Expanding guaranteed days strengthens the enforceability of this right, together with strengthened accountability and grievance redressal mechanisms. The transition to normative allocations relates to budgeting and fund flow mechanisms and does not affect the legal right to employment. Sections 4(5) and 22(4) provide rules-based, predictable allocations while preserving the legal obligation to provide employment or unemployment benefits. The law does not centralize planning or implementation. Power to plan, implement and monitor in Panchayats under Sections 16 to 19, Program Officers and District officials at appropriate levels. What is integrated at the national level is visibility, coordination and convergence, not local decision-making.

The Act is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme to be notified and operationalized by the State Governments in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The cost-sharing model is 60:40 between Center and States, 90:10 for North Eastern and Himalayan States and 100% central funding for non-legislative Union Territories. Funding is provided through normative allocations on a State basis based on objective parameters set out in the Rules (Sections 4(5) and 22(4)), ensuring predictability, fiscal discipline and sound planning while fully protecting statutory rights to employment and unemployment compensation. The administrative spending cap was increased from 6% to 9%, allowing for improved staffing, training, technical capacity and field-level support, and strengthening institutions’ ability to deliver results effectively.

(With inputs from ANI)