Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in Union Budget, has provisioned ₹95,692 crore for the rural employment scheme Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G).
The law ensures 125 days of wage employment in rural household in a financial year, under the rebranded VB-G RAM G, where members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
Launched in 2006, MNREGA guaranteed wage employment to rural households and traditionally provided 100 days of assured work in a year.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA), one of India’s largest rural employment programmes, has undergone a significant overhaul as the Centre renamed and rebranded the scheme as the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgaar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G, in December last year, marking a shift not just in the name and brand but also in its design.
The restructuring also altered the Centre–state cost-sharing framework.
Under MNREGA, the Centre bore the cost of unskilled wages, while states were responsible for unemployment allowances. Under the new framework, expenditure will be shared in a 60:40 ratio between the Centre and states for most states, and 90:10 for special category states, indicating a greater fiscal responsibility for states in implementing the scheme.
In budgetary terms, MNREGA allocations have often lagged behind actual demand. While the budget estimate for 2023-24 was cut to ₹60,000 crore, revised and actual expenditure crossed ₹86,000 crore. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the allocation was raised to ₹86,000 crore in the vote-on-account and was kept unchanged in the July budget.
For 2025-26 too, the allocation was retained at ₹86,000 crore.
