Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-G RAM G Act) came into force across rural India on 1 July 2026¨     Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-G RAM G Act) came into force across rural India on 1 July 2026.

¨     It replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005.

¨     The Act increases the statutory wage employment guarantee for eligible rural households from 100 days to 125 days in a financial year.

¨     It continues the legal framework of rural employment guarantee under a central law enacted by Parliament.

¨     The Ministry of Rural Development notified revised wage rates on 30 June 2026.

¨     The national average daily wage increased from ₹298.8 under MGNREGA to ₹327.4 under VB-G RAM G, an average increase of ₹28.6 per day.

¨     An interim wage floor of ₹300 per day came into effect from 1 July 2026, and no notified wage can be lower than this amount.

¨     An interim allocation of ₹95,692.31 crore was provided to States and Union Territories for transition support and wage payments.

¨     The funding pattern is 60:40 between the Centre and States for most states.

¨     North-Eastern and Himalayan states receive financial assistance in the ratio of 90:10 between the Centre and States.

¨     Existing e-KYC-verified MGNREGA job cards will remain valid until new Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards are issued.

¨     The migration of data to the new system is expected to take six months and continue until 31 December 2026.

¨     By 30 June 2026, about two dozen States and Union Territories had issued the required notifications.

¨     Twenty-nine States and Union Territories had also made the necessary budgetary provisions for implementation.