Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Public debate around welfare reform is both necessary and healthy. Concerns expressed by some quarters over the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) stem from a legitimate apprehension: that any change to a historic employment guarantee could dilute hard-won worker rights. That concern deserves respect. But it also calls for a careful reading of what the Viksit Bharat G RAM G Bill actually provides, rather than assumptions. The most prominent feature of the Bill is that it gives legal guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a year, to each rural household. The Bill also provides for unemployment allowance in case the employment is not provided within 15 days of application, by removing MGNREGA-era disentitlement provisions.
The weakness of India’s rural employment framework lay not in intent, but in structural shortcomings that called for reform.
VB-G RAM G must be assessed against this reality. Far from weakening entitlements, the proposed framework addresses MGNREGA deficiencies directly. By removing dis-entitlement provisions that had the effect of denying workers their due, and by strengthening statutory obligations relating to transparency, social audit and grievance redressal, the Bill seeks to restore credibility to the employment guarantee.Enhanced accountability mechanisms and time-bound grievance resolution are not peripheral features; they are central to making the right meaningful on the ground.
In this sense, VB-G RAM G does not retreat from social protection. It seeks to convert a frequently frustrated entitlement into a real, enforceable guarantee.
From Paper Entitlement to Real Empowerment
The most common criticism is that VB-G RAM G undermines the demand-driven nature of rural employment. This claim does not withstand a plain reading of the Bill. Clause 5(1) places a clear statutory obligation on the Government to provide not less than 125 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to any rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
Far from weakening this right to demand, the Bill strengthens it by expanding guaranteed employment to 125 days and removing MGNREGA-era dis-entitlement provisions, thereby restoring unemployment allowance as a real statutory safeguard. A right embedded in statutory guarantees and enforceable accountability mechanisms is inherently stronger-and VB-G RAM G does precisely this in real terms.
Strengthening the Livelihood Guarantee
Another criticism suggests that the reform prioritises asset creation at the cost of employment. The Bill clearly enshrines a statutory livelihood guarantee, while simultaneously linking employment to the creation of productive and durable public assets.
Clause 4(2) read with Schedule I identifies four thematic domains-water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and works to mitigate extreme weather events. This ensures that wage employment contributes not only to immediate income support, but also to long-term rural resilience and productivity. Employment and assets, therefore, are not competing objectives; they are mutually reinforcing, laying the foundation for a prosperous and resilient rural Bharat.
Decentralization through Convergence, Not Centralization
Far from centralisation, Clauses 4(1) to 4(3) anchor all works in Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans (VGPPs) prepared at the village level based on local needs and approved by the Gram Sabha. The Bill also addresses a deeper structural flaw of the earlier framework-fragmentation-by requiring all works to be aggregated into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, creating a unified planning and visibility framework.
This is not centralisation by fiat. Clauses 16, 17, 18 and 19 vest planning, implementation and monitoring authority in Panchayats, Programme Officers and District authorities at appropriate tiers. What the Bill facilitates is visibility, coordination and coherence-not centralisation of decision-making authority. Gram Sabhas continue to drive planning based on local priorities.
Balancing Worker Security and Farm Productivity
Concerns regarding agricultural labour shortages during peak seasons are explicitly addressed. Clause 6 empowers State Governments to notify, in advance, periods aggregating to sixty days in a financial year covering peak sowing and harvesting seasons during which works under the Bill shall not be undertaken.
Crucially, Clause 6(3) allows States to issue differentiated notifications at the level of districts, blocks or Gram Panchayats based on agro-climatic conditions. This built-in flexibility ensures that the enhanced employment guarantee complements, rather than disrupts, agricultural operations-a calibrated balance few welfare legislations have achieved.
Equity through Rule-Based Allocation
Critics also point to fears of fiscal tightening. Clause 4(5) and Clause 22(4) require State-wise normative allocations to be determined on objective parameters prescribed in the Rules.
At the same time, the framework treats States not as mere implementing agencies but as partners in development. State Governments are empowered to notify and operationalise their own Schemes within the State, consistent with the minimum statutory framework laid down in the Bill. This ensures that while allocations are rule-based and equitable, implementation retains flexibility-cooperative federalism in practice.
Technology as Enablement, Not Exclusion
Apprehensions about technology-driven exclusion overlook the safeguards built into the Bill. Clauses 23 and 24 mandate technology-enabled transparency through biometric authentication, geo-tagged works, real-time dashboards and regular public disclosures-addressing concerns around fake attendance, ghost workers and unverifiable records.
Technology is not conceived as a rigid gatekeeper but as an enabling tool, with exception handling as a core design feature. Clause 20 strengthens social audits by the Gram Sabha, reinforcing community oversight. Technology here does not bypass accountability; it underpins it.
Reform as Renewal
By enhancing the employment guarantee, embedding local planning, balancing worker security with farm productivity, converging schemes, strengthening frontline capacity through enhanced administrative support, and modernising governance, the Bill seeks to restore credibility to a promise that too often fell short in practice.
The choice is not between reform and compassion; it is between a static entitlement that under-delivers and a modern framework that delivers with dignity, predictability and purpose. In that light, VB-G RAM G is not a retreat from social protection-it is its renewal.
(The Author is the Union Minister for Rural Development and Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare)