The central government on Monday notified the implementation of a new rural employment law, the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), (VB-GRAMG), 2025, replacing the nearly two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The new framework is set to take effect nationwide from July 1, 2026. A notification is a formal government order that gives legal force to a law. Once notified, states must begin preparing their systems, staff and schemes to roll out the new framework on the ground from the specified date.
The VB-GRAMG was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16, 2025, passed by the Lok Sabha on December 18, and cleared by the Rajya Sabha shortly after midnight on December 19. It received presidential assent on December 21, 2025. The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) notified this on Monday and set July 1, 2026 as the date for its nationwide implementation.
MGNREGA, enacted in 2005, guaranteed 100 days of wage employment per rural household per year. Under that law, states submitted annual work plans based on ground-level demand and the Centre was obliged to release funds accordingly. The new law changes both the number of guaranteed workdays and the way funds are allocated between the Centre and the states.
The VB-GRAMG Act guarantees every...
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