Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RaM G)

This proposed Bill is a major legislative step towards realizing the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision, particularly focusing on rural development and livelihood security. It is essentially an enhanced, converged, and digitally backed successor framework to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Key Features and Provisions

• Enhanced Statutory Employment Guarantee: The Bill mandates a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment per rural household in every financial year, a 25-day increase from the 100 days under MGNREGA.
• Target: Adults in rural households who volunteer for unskilled manual work.
• Focus Areas: The mission emphasizes Empowerment, Growth, Convergence, and Saturation of public works.
• Special focus on works related to water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and mitigation of extreme weather events.
• Institutionalised Convergence: The core mechanism is the convergence of all relevant schemes through a unified planning process.
• Anchored in Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans (VGP), prepared by Gram Panchayats on a 'Saturation basis' using the principles of PM Gati Shakti.
• These plans will be aggregated into the 'Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack' for a unified national framework for rural public works.
• Digital Governance Ecosystem: A strong emphasis on transparency and efficiency through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
• Includes biometric authentication, spatial-technology-enabled planning and monitoring, mobile-based reporting, AI-enabled analytics, and strengthened social audit mechanisms.
• Financial and Accountability Mechanisms:
• Provides for Normative Allocation to States based on objective parameters to ensure inclusive growth and equitable fund distribution.
• Unemployment Allowance is to be paid by State Governments if employment is not provided within 15 days, at prescribed rates.
• Mandates Weekly Disclosure meetings in Gram Panchayat Bhavans for public presentation of work status, payments, and grievances.
• Significance: Represents a paradigm shift from a standalone employment guarantee to an integrated rural development mission focused on asset creation and economic growth (the "Growth" component).
• Continuity and Change: Important for comparing the provisions with MGNREGA – specifically the increased days, focus on digital technology (DPI/AI), and the explicit integration with national infrastructure planning (PM Gati Shakti).
• Federalism: The role of the Central Government (wage rate notification, Normative Allocation) versus State Governments (unemployment allowance payment, intra-State distribution) is a key aspect.