The Union Minister of Rural Development and Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan introduced the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB G RAM G (विकसित भारत–जी राम जी) Bill, 2025 in Lok Sabha today. The Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB G RAM G (विकसित भारत – जी राम जी) Bill, 2025 seeks to establish a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047, by providing a statutory guarantee of one hundred and twenty-five days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work; to promote empowerment, growth, convergence and saturation for a prosperous and resilient rural Bharat.

This landmark legislation aims to establish a future-ready,convergence driven,saturation-oriented rural development architecture. It will support the accelerated pace of rural development in accordance with the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047, thereby empowering the rural households through increased employment opportunities. The Bill provides forinstitutionalising convergence of all relevant schemes through a unified planning process anchored in Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans, aggregated into Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack. The Bill provides for Robust transparency and accountability mechanisms through technology-enabled architecture and enforcement via legal and administrative provisions.

Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB G RAM G (विकसितभारत–जीरामजी) Bill, 2025will enhance the statutory wage employment guarantee to 125 days per rural household in every financial year, for adults who volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work. 

All works undertaken under this Bill will be aggregated into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, creating a unified national framework for rural public works. The thematic priority will be accorded to water security through water-related works, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and special works aimed at mitigating the impact of extreme weather events and disaster preparedness. This approach will ensure the creation of productive, durable, resilient and transformative rural assets across the country.

All works under this Bill will be identified throughViksit Gram Panchayat Plans (VGPPs), which are bottom-up, convergence-based and saturation-oriented. These plans will be aggregated at the Block, District and State levels to ensure alignment with broader sectoral priorities, thereby creating a unified, Whole-of-Government rural development framework. The VGPPs will be prepared using spatial technology and integrated with PM Gati Shakti to enable coordinated and efficient planning.

States will be empowered to notify in advance, periods aggregating to 60 days in a financial year during which works under the Bill shall not be undertaken, in order to facilitate the availability of farm labour during peak sowing and harvesting seasons.

Every State Government is required to prepare a Scheme for giving effect to the guarantee proposed under this bill,within six months of the commencement of the Act. It will operate as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), with a fund sharing pattern of 90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan States/UT and 60:40 for all other States.

To promote inclusive growth and equitable distribution of financial resources in a fair manner, the bill provides for Normative Allocation to States based on objective parameters. States will ensure transparent and need-based intra-State distribution of funds across Districts and Gram Panchayats, taking into account thecategory of the Panchayats and local developmental needs, thereby strengthening equity, transparency and accountability.

The Bill mandates a comprehensive governance ecosystem built on digital public infrastructure, including biometric authentication, spatial-technology-enabled planning and monitoring, mobile-based reporting with real-time dashboards, AI-enabled analyticsand strengthened social audit mechanisms, ensuring transparent, efficient and high-integrity implementation.

The Gram panchayat shall convene Weekly Disclosure meetings in the Gram Panchayat Bhavans to present the status of works, payments, grievances, progress of the works, muster rolls etc. In addition, weekly disclosures shall be automatically generated, and displayed in a publicly accessible physical and digital formats.

Under the Bill, wage rates will be notified by the Central Government and, until such notification, the existing MGNREGA wage rates will continue to apply. Bill provides for Unemployment allowance if employment is not provided within 15 days, at prescribed rates, to be paid by the State Governments.

Background: Transformation in Rural India

Over the past two decades, rural India has undergone transformative changes, marked by saturation-oriented delivery of major Government schemes; expanded rural connectivity, housing, drinking water, sanitation and electrification; deeper financial inclusion with improved digital access; diversification of the rural workforce; and rising aspirations for better incomes, productive infrastructure and greater climate resilience. These developments call for a recalibrated approach that can respond to evolving aspirations, leverage technology and ensure convergence across Central, State and Local schemes.

To cater to the changing aspirations, stronger convergence is required to establish an integrated, Whole-of-Government rural development framework covering several complementary Government schemes. It is essential that rural infrastructure creation must transition from fragmented provisioning to a coherent and future-oriented approach and it is also essential that resources are distributed in a fair manner to reduce disparities and promote inclusive growth across all rural areas of the country based on objective parameters.

As national development advances, rural development programs require periodical revision to remain aligned with emerging needs and further aspirations. In the vastly changed circumstances of today, a transformational approach to rural development is essential to achieve the objectives of Viksit Bharat @2047. The expanding scale of development interventions is expected to create additional employment opportunities for rural households. It is imperative to engage the rural workforce more effectively to support the vision of Viksit Bharat, while empowering them through enhanced livelihood gurarantee. Therefore, the Government has resolved to enhance the wage-employment guarantee for rural households from one hundred days to one hundred and twenty-five days per financial year for anchoring rural asset creation through the enactment of an appropriate Act.

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