Parliament Question: Rural Employment Schemes

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 35 ANSWERED ON 21/07/2026 RURAL EMPLOYMENT SCHEMES *35. Shri Aashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has reviewed the effectiveness of rural employment schemes in the country, if so, the details thereof;

(b) the total number of beneficiaries who have received employment under such schemes during the last three years and the current year, State-wise;

(c) the steps taken by the Government to improve income opportunities for rural youth and women; and

(d) whether the Government has introduced any new initiatives to promote sustainable livelihoods and reduce migration from rural areas, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Page 1 of 6STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *35 TO BE ANSWERED ON

21.07.2026 REGARDING “RURAL EMPLOYMENT SCHEMES”

(a) & (b): Evaluation of the various schemes being implemented by Central Government, including Rural Employment schemes is a continuous exercise. Accordingly an independent evaluation of implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), was undertaken by NITI Aayog in the year 2020. Some of its major findings were that the implementation of MGNREGS suffered from critical design challenges, resulting in low completion rates for community assets, lack of quality, utility and durability of assets.

Keeping in view the experience gained from the implementation of MGNREGS and also suggestions and observations made in evaluation studies, a new Act titled the Viksit Bharat-G RAM G has been enacted in December 2025, and successfully implemented in rural areas of the entire country with effect from

01.07.2026.

States/Union Territories-wise number of persons who availed of employment under the erstwhile Mahatma Gandhi NREGS and presently under VB–G RAM G Scheme, during the last three financial years and current financial year 2026-27 (as on 16.07.2026) are given at Annexure.

(c) & (d): (i) Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB–G RAM G Act introduces several new initiatives to promote sustainable rural livelihoods and reduce migration by creating long-term employment and livelihood opportunities within villages. The major initiatives include:

 enhancement of the statutory employment guarantee from 100 days to 125 days for every eligible rural household;  identification of Livelihood Infrastructure as one of the four thematic focus areas under the Act. The Act provides for the creation of durable and productive livelihood-related assets, including infrastructure for Self Help Groups (SHGs), rural haats, training and skill centres, storage, value-addition and other livelihood-supporting infrastructure, to strengthen local Page 2 of 6economic activities and expand sustainable livelihood opportunities;

 prioritisation of works relating to Water Security, Core Rural Infrastructure and Mitigation of Extreme Weather Events, which are expected to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen the rural economy and create sustainable employment;

 promotion of convergence with other rural development programmes relating to rural housing, self-help groups, skill development, agriculture and natural resource management for holistic rural development.

The Department of Rural Development is also implementing other welfare schemes in the field of skill development and empowerment of rural youth and women under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM):

(ii) Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme being implemented in partnership of States and UTs through their State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM), with an aim to reduce rural poverty, improve the livelihoods of rural poor and organize rural poor households into the Self-Help Group (SHG), for their social and financial inclusion. So far, 10.05 crore rural households have been organised into 92 lakh SHGs in the country.

To improve income opportunities and promote sustainable livelihood under DAY-NRLM regular training and capacity-building programmes are conducted for SHG members and community cadres on SHG management, financial literacy, livelihood promotion and enterprise development.

In order to provide handholding support and extension support services a number of Community Resource Persons (CRPs) CRPs i.e., Krishi Sakhi, Pashu Sakhi, Van Sakhi, Matshya Sakhi are promoted and trained. As on June 2026, the DAY-NRLM has promoted 1.95 lakhs Krishi Sakhis, 1.78 lakh Pashu Sakhis, 2,052 Matshya Sakhis who are trained and have been providing handholding support to the mahila kisan households.

The Lakhpati Didi initiative is an outcome of the DAY-NRLM, which aligns directly with the program's vision of empowering rural Page 3 of 6women and promoting their economic independence. A Lakhpati Didi is a Self-Help Group (SHG) member whose income is at least Rs.

1,00,000 annually.

(iii) Skill Development and training programmes such as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)- a placement-linked skill development program for wage employment and

(iv) Skill development through Rural Self Employment and Training Institutes (RSETIs) are also being implemented by Ministry of Rural Development.

These initiatives are aimed at strengthening sustainable rural livelihoods, creating productive local employment opportunities, enhancing rural incomes and reducing distress migration by making villages more resilient, self-reliant and economically vibrant.

***** Page 4 of 6Annexure Annexure referred to in the reply to parts (a) & (b) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 35 dated 21.07.2026.

States/Union Territories-wise number of persons who avail employment under the erstwhile Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during the last three financial years and current financial year 2026-27 (as on 30.06.2026).

SI. States/Union Number of persons who availed the employment No. Territories 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 1 Andhra Pradesh 7542774 7523181 6761622 5157171 2 Arunachal 282304 311382 359467 73559 Pradesh 3 Assam 3347851 2634205 2402476 1275632 4 Bihar 5383600 5617766 5671219 3185441 5 Chhattisgarh 4413335 4481600 4009855 2292937 6 Goa 2186 3192 2585 874 7 Gujarat 1511579 1306178 1029003 381758 8 Haryana 523962 478788 376657 45618 9 Himachal Pradesh 949218 1026189 743461 99412 10 Jammu And 993446 1055725 1064567 212017 Kashmir 11 Jharkhand 2559494 2311214 2605327 633119 12 Karnataka 5402381 5170308 3932582 1376863 13 Kerala 1661622 1540284 1398316 784874 14 Ladakh 36516 37175 37550 13441 15 Madhya Pradesh 6373186 5772104 5990054 1556074 16 Maharashtra 4128090 5111881 6173582 2383241 17 Manipur 503268 565779 572607 409147 18 Meghalaya 629087 544506 575353 193279 19 Mizoram 211413 211355 220887 199232 20 Nagaland 468211 216157 286204 113765 21 Odisha 4991241 3376513 3564847 885873 22 Punjab 1015694 984897 899700 243991 23 Rajasthan 8696618 7723308 6017534 2935847 24 Sikkim 70327 68677 61746 2585 25 Tamil Nadu 7939116 7433944 6259646 3147414 26 Telangana 4062113 4244189 3389129 3152420 27 Tripura 842843 813522 765320 522080 28 Uttar Pradesh 8127953 7582415 6232325 1390720 29 Uttarakhand 638095 575323 488392 86174 30 West Bengal 9415 0 0 8950 31 Andaman and 5025 3523 2480 1433 Nicobar 32 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman 2188 10496 9457 3734 and Diu 33 Lakshadweep 77 0 0 0 34 Puducherry 58705 50264 50137 21266 Total 83382933 78786040 71954087 32789941 As per NREGASoft Page 5 of 6State/Union Territory-wise number of persons who availedf employment under VB–G RAM G Scheme during the period from 1stJuly, 2026 to 16thJuly, 2026.

SI. Number of persons who avail the States/Union Territories No. employment 1 Andhra Pradesh 1178855 2 Arunachal Pradesh 6100 3 Assam 172673 4 Bihar 67670 5 Chhattisgarh 144836 6 Goa 47 7 Gujarat 35453 8 Haryana 8703 9 Himachal Pradesh 39751 10 Jammu And Kashmir 92907 11 Jharkhand 39262 12 Karnataka 88608 13 Kerala 331846 14 Ladakh 7147 15 Madhya Pradesh 54413 16 Maharashtra 132412 17 Manipur 121335 18 Meghalaya 6585 19 Mizoram 3704 20 Nagaland 552 21 Odisha 115896 22 Punjab 628 23 Rajasthan 686526 24 Sikkim 16 25 Tamil Nadu 452652 26 Telangana 415223 27 Tripura 116534 28 Uttar Pradesh 681512 29 Uttarakhand 16887 30 West Bengal 10441 31 Andaman And Nicobar 247 32 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 330 Daman and Diu 33 Lakshadweep 0 34 Puducherry 4635 Total 5034386

Note: As per the attendance captured till 16.7.2026 under VB-G RAM G. ***** Page 6 of 6