Over 9.69 crore person-days have been generated within a month of the rollout of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB-GRAM-G), which replaced MGNREGA, the Centre informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
In a written reply, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the VB-GRAM-G Act, 2025, has been enacted and the VB-GRAM-G scheme has been implemented in rural areas across the country with effect from July 1, 2026.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) stands repealed from the same date, he said.
The minister said all states and Union territories have notified the scheme and have started works under VB-GRAM-G by providing employment to willing households as per provisions of the Act.
“The transition from MGNREGA to VB-GRAM-G has been smooth, seamless and worker-centric. Over 9.69 crore person-days have been generated approximately within a month of the rollout of the VB-GRAM-G Act,” the reply read.
The VB-GRAM-G provides for a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work, against the 100 days of guaranteed wage employment guaranteed under MGNREGA.
Chouhan said in the current financial year, a provision of Rs 95,692.31 crore has been made for the Centre’s share for VB-GRAM-G — among the largest budget estimates for any rural employment programme in the country.
-PTI
