The Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 has come into force effective July 1, 2026, across all rural areas of India. All States and Union Territories have notified the VB-G RAM-G Scheme in accordance with the Act's provisions and have begun implementation.
The Ministry of Rural Development addressed concerns raised by some organizations regarding the replacement of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, the demand-driven nature of the program, and apprehensions that phase-wise implementation might adversely affect rural employment opportunities. The VB-G RAM-G Act preserves the statutory, demand-driven nature of rural employment guarantee by providing 125 days of guaranteed wage employment per financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
The scheme strengthens the program by placing greater emphasis on sustainable livelihood creation, durable and productive rural assets, water security, climate resilience, transparency, and technology-enabled governance, while retaining the statutory right to demand employment and receive unemployment allowance as per the Act's provisions.
Initial implementation data shows that from July 1, 2026, over 99.5% of workers who demanded employment have been offered employment. As of July 22, 2026, the scheme has generated 5.20 crore person-days of employment across 8.46 lakh worksites throughout the country.
This information was formally provided by Kamlesh Paswan, Minister of State for Rural Development, in a written reply presented in the Lok Sabha on July 28, 2026.