The National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill was introduced in Parliament in 2004 and became law the following year. In 2009, its name was changed to include Mahatma Gandhi’s name as a prefix.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) allowed rural households to request work, with the government legally required to provide it within 15 days or offer compensation. The local Gram Panchayat was responsible for deciding which projects to undertake.A recent Ministry of Rural Development audit (April-Nov 2025) uncovered ₹302 crore in irregularities spanning 11 lakh cases across 55 districts in 25 states/UTs. In many cases, work existed only on paper, not on the ground. The Ministry’s investigation also found that in the initial years, monitoring and record-keeping under MGNREGA were extremely weak.
The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 replaces MGNREGA. The law seeks to establish a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047 to promote empowerment, growth, convergence and saturation for a prosperous and resilient rural India. It aims to provide a legal guarantee of 125 days of wage employment per financial year for rural households whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
The fund sharing pattern with States will be change to 60:40 ratio from 90:10 under the MGNREGA.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) allowed rural households to request work, with the government legally required to provide it within 15 days or offer compensation. The local Gram Panchayat was responsible for deciding which projects to undertake.A recent Ministry of Rural Development audit (April-Nov 2025) uncovered ₹302 crore in irregularities spanning 11 lakh cases across 55 districts in 25 states/UTs. In many cases, work existed only on paper, not on the ground. The Ministry’s investigation also found that in the initial years, monitoring and record-keeping under MGNREGA were extremely weak.
The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 replaces MGNREGA. The law seeks to establish a rural development framework aligned with the national vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047 to promote empowerment, growth, convergence and saturation for a prosperous and resilient rural India. It aims to provide a legal guarantee of 125 days of wage employment per financial year for rural households whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work.
The fund sharing pattern with States will be change to 60:40 ratio from 90:10 under the MGNREGA.