Explained: What is the new VB-G RAM G Act and how will it replace MGNREGA?

NEW DELHI: (May 11) The Centre on Monday announced that the new Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, will come into force across India from July 1, replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The government presented the legislation as a "next-generation rural development framework" aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, promising an expansion of guaranteed wage employment from 100 days to 125 days a year while linking rural employment more closely with infrastructure creation, climate resilience and village-level planning.

However, opposition parties and labour rights activists have raised concerns over the repeal of MGNREGA, arguing that the existing law had evolved into a rights-based social protection framework and warning that increased digitisation, face-authentication attendance and administrative restructuring could create barriers for vulnerable workers.