The VB-G RAM G is the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, an Indian social welfare Act that provides a statutory guarantee of the 'right to work' in rural areas. The Act was passed by the Parliament of India on December 18–19, 2025, received Presidential assent on December 21, 2025, and came into force on July 1, 2026.
The Act was created to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, which the government argued needed a revised legislative framework due to significant changes in rural infrastructure, livelihood patterns, and the need to align with the long-term development vision of Viksit Bharat @2047. The problem it solved was modernizing the rural employment guarantee by shifting the focus from a standalone welfare intervention to an integrated instrument of development and resilient infrastructure.
The VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 guarantees 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, an increase from the 100 days guaranteed under MGNREGA. A key mechanism is the provision for a 60-day pause in the scheme during peak agricultural sowing and harvesting seasons to ensure the availability of farm labour. The Act also empowers the Centre to fix a national floor wage, which has been set at ₹300 per day.
The Act connects directly to the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision, aiming to integrate local development plans (Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans) with national priorities like PM Gati Shakti. The most significant change from the MGNREGA, 2005, is the funding pattern: the new Act introduces a 60:40 Centre-State cost-sharing model for the wage bill for general states, a departure from the previous model where the Centre paid 100% of the unskilled wage cost. However, the core concept of a statutory guarantee of wage employment for unskilled manual work in rural areas remains the same.