BREAKING
Supreme Court to hear Ram temple donation embezzlement pleas on August 17Amazon’s AI Data Centre Faces Major Pollution ConcernsMohanlal himself suggested taking on a part in ‘Thudakkam’, reveals writer Akhil Krishna‘Rent boyfriend’ trap: How fake dating advertisement are cheating women onlineLok Sabha: Centre offers discussion on student protestsJemimah eyes Champions Trophy glory with winning mindsetKapaali: Hansika Motwani’s first look from Rohith Nara’s psychological thriller unveiledHCA names support staff for Hyderabad senior, age-group teamsChina’s new AI experiment simulates one billion people to track how opinions spreadAR Rahman’s son Ameen meets with car accident in Chennai; sustains minor injuries
National

Rural jobs under new VB-G RAM G scheme fall nearly 50% in first month

hellohimachalse@gmail.com 10 Aug 2026 1 hour ago

New Delhi: Employment generation under India’s new rural jobs programme fell by nearly half in July, its first full month of operation, according to official data.

The Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G, generated 7.67 crore person-days in July, compared with 15.33 crore person-days during the same month last year under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). This represents a 49.94 per cent year-on-year decline.

A person-day refers to one person being provided employment for one day under the rural jobs programme and is the standard measure used to track employment generated.

The sharp decline comes barely weeks after the Centre replaced the two-decade-old MGNREGS with VB-G RAM G from July 1.

The new program was introduced to expand the rural employment framework, with the statutory employment guarantee increased from 100 days to 125 days per rural household in a financial year.

The Rural Development Ministry had said in Parliament last month that more than 99.5 per cent of workers who demanded employment under the new scheme had been provided work, with more than 5.2 crore person-days generated by July 22. The month-end figures, however, show that employment generation slowed during the rest of July.

What is VB-G RAM G?

The VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 is short for Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), and is the new legal framework for rural wage employment.

Parliament passed the legislation in December 2025, and the Centre notified its nationwide implementation from July 1, 2026. With its rollout, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 was repealed.

The biggest stated change is the increase in guaranteed employment from 100 days to 125 days for every eligible rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work. The government has also sought to shift the programme’s emphasis beyond providing wage employment towards creating durable rural assets and improving livelihoods.

The new framework also changes the financing structure. Unlike the earlier MGNREGA framework, in which the Centre carried a larger share of the wage and material costs, VB-G RAM G envisages greater financial participation by states, with the Centre and states generally sharing costs in a 60:40 ratio. Northeastern and Himalayan states have a different funding ratio.

The government has described the new system as a move towards more productive and infrastructure-oriented rural employment. The Centre had allocated an interim ₹95,692 crore for the nationwide rollout, while the government has projected a larger overall outlay for the programme.

Related News