Parliament Question: Enhancement of man days with enhanced financial allocation under VB—G RAM G Act

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2532 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13/03/2026 Enhancement of man days with enhanced financial allocation under VB—G RAM G Act 2532 Shri Sanjay Yadav: Will the Minister of Rural Development be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that a report by LibTech India, an advocacy group, found that only 7 per cent of rural households working under the erstwhile MGNREGA scheme received 100 days of work in 2023-24; (b) whether it is also a fact that the ceiling is raised to 125 days while financial restriction is putting downward pressure on the scheme; and (c) if so, then the changes Government propose to enhance the man days with enhanced financial allocation? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN) (a): Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand driven wage employment Scheme. The responsibility of implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is vested with the Governments of concerned States/UTs. The Scheme guarantees up to 100 days of wage employment subject to demand for work by the eligible beneficiaries During the financial year 2023-2024, 44.94 lakh households completed 100 days of employment under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. In this regard it is stated that Mahatma Gandhi NREGS provides livelihood security, i.e. fall-back options for livelihood for the rural households, when no better employment opportunity is available. During the current Financial Year (FY) 2025-26 (as on 09.03.2026), 99.81% of the eligible rural households have been offered employment against the demand for the employment under the scheme, reflecting effective implementation of the scheme. (b) & (c): Here it is stated that against provision for 100 days of guaranteed employment under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS, the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, provides for one hundred and twenty-five days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. As per the Para 3 of Schedule I of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB- G RAM G Act, 2025, the core objectives and key provisions are given below: i. The primary objective of this Act is to align the rural development framework with the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 by providing an enhanced statutory wage Page 1 of 2employment guarantee of one hundred and twenty-five days in each financial year to such rural households whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work, thereby enabling them to participate more effectively in the expanded livelihood security framework. ii. To focus on empowerment, growth, convergence and saturation through public works aggregating into forming Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, with a thematic focus on water security through water-related works, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure and special works to mitigate extreme weather events. iii. To facilitate adequate farm-labour availability during peak agricultural seasons, and, in view of the wage-employment guarantee for the rural workforce. iv. To institutionalise convergence, saturation-driven planning and whole of government delivery through Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans, integrated with the PM Gati Shakti to address the varying needs of Gram Panchayats, powered by geospatial systems, digital public infrastructure, district and State planning mechanisms, with such plans aggregated at the Block, District, State and National levels. v. To modernise governance, accountability and citizen engagement through a comprehensive digital ecosystem, including biometric authentication at various levels, global positioning system or mobile based worksite monitoring, real time management information system dashboards, proactive public disclosures and the use of Artificial Intelligence for planning, audits and fraud risk mitigation. Here it is also stated that the Act makes provision for works to be identified and prioritized through participatory Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans, which are aggregated at Block, District, State and National levels. Types of works fall under four thematic domains: (i) water-related works for water security; (ii) core rural infrastructure; (iii) livelihood-related infrastructure; and (iv) special works for mitigating extreme weather events and disaster preparedness. For the financial year 2026–27, a Central share provision of ₹95,692.31 crore has been made for the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), representing the largest allocation ever for rural employment progamme at Budget Estimate Stage. With the inclusion of the corresponding estimated State share, the total programme outlay is likely to exceed ₹1.51 lakh crore, which is expected to significantly accelerate rural transformation, large- scale employment generation and income enhancement in rural areas. ***** Page 2 of 2