The President of India has given assent to the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, marking a major reform in India’s rural employment and livelihood framework. The Act replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, and enhances the statutory wage employment guarantee to at least 125 days per rural household each financial year, aligning rural development policy with the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.

The new legislation is anchored in the principles of empowerment, inclusive growth, convergence and saturation-based delivery. It seeks to transform rural employment from a standalone welfare measure into an integrated development instrument by linking wage employment with the creation of durable and productive rural assets. The Act strengthens income security for rural households, modernises governance and accountability mechanisms, and aims to build a resilient and self-reliant Rural Bharat.

Under the Act, eligible rural households whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work are entitled to a statutory guarantee of not less than 125 days of employment per year, an increase from the earlier 100-day provision. To balance agricultural labour requirements during peak sowing and harvesting seasons, states are empowered to notify an aggregated pause period of up to 60 days in a year, without diluting the overall employment guarantee. The Act also mandates timely wage payments on a weekly basis or within 15 days of work completion, with compensation payable in case of delays.

Wage employment is explicitly linked to the creation of durable public assets across four priority areas: water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and works to mitigate extreme weather events. Planning is undertaken through Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans approved by Gram Sabhas and digitally integrated with national platforms such as PM Gati Shakti to ensure convergence, avoid duplication and achieve saturation of critical infrastructure based on local needs.

The Act introduces a reformed financial architecture, implementing the programme as a centrally sponsored scheme with a cost-sharing pattern of 60:40 between the Centre and states, 90:10 for North Eastern and Himalayan states, and full central funding for Union Territories without legislatures. Administrative expenditure limits have been raised from 6 per cent to 9 per cent to strengthen staffing, training and field-level capacity. The legislation also restores unemployment allowance as a meaningful statutory safeguard where employment is not provided within the stipulated timeframe.

Emphasising decentralisation, the Act vests planning, implementation and monitoring authority with Panchayats and district-level institutions, while national-level integration focuses on coordination and transparency rather than centralised control. Technology-enabled tools such as biometric authentication, geo-tagging and real-time dashboards are designed to enhance transparency and inclusion, complemented by strengthened social audits through Gram Sabhas.

The enactment of the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 represents a significant renewal of India’s rural employment guarantee, positioning it as a strategic driver of empowerment, sustainable livelihoods and long-term rural prosperity in line with the country’s development goals