The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025: Enhancing Rural Livelihood Security
SDG 1: No Poverty | SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Ministry of Rural Development
Introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16, 2025, the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025 seeks to replace the landmark Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005. The Bill aims to align rural development with the “Viksit Bharat @2047” vision by providing an enhanced statutory framework for wage employment and asset creation.
Key Features of the Bill:
Enhanced Employment Guarantee: Increases the statutory guarantee of wage employment from 100 days to 125 days per financial year for every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack: Establishes a consolidated aggregation of works across four thematic domains: water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and extreme weather mitigation.
Integrated Planning: Institutionalizes “Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans” integrated with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan to ensure spatially optimized development and inter-departmental convergence.
Modernized Governance: Mandates a comprehensive digital ecosystem, including biometric authentication, GPS-based worksite monitoring, and the use of Artificial Intelligence for planning, audits, and fraud-risk mitigation.
Peak Season Restrictions: Empowers State Governments to notify up to 60 days in a financial year during peak sowing and harvesting seasons when no works will be undertaken to ensure adequate farm-labour availability.
Funding Pattern: Implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a 90:10 sharing ratio for North-Eastern and Himalayan States/UTs, and 60:40 for other States/UTs.
What is the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack? It is a consolidated digital register of all rural public works emerging from bottom-up Gram Panchayat plans. It is designed to prevent duplication, integrate departmental investments, and align all infrastructure development with national saturation outcomes.
Policy Relevance
The Bill represents a paradigm shift from a purely demand-driven safety net to a saturation-driven development model. By increasing the guaranteed workdays to 125, the government is intensifying its focus on rural income stability and the creation of productive, resilient assets.
Convergence for Saturation: The mandatory integration of all central and state schemes under a unified planning process aims to eliminate fragmented provisioning and ensure holistic village development.
Climate Resilience: The dedicated category for mitigating extreme weather events and the focus on water security (Category I) directly link rural employment to long-term climate adaptation.
Inclusive Protection: Prioritizes individual asset creation for vulnerable groups, including SC/ST households, women-headed households, and persons with disabilities, while introducing “Special Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards” for these groups.
Follow the full news here: THE VIKSIT BHARAT—GUARANTEE FOR ROZGAR AND AJEEVIKA MISSION (GRAMIN) BILL