Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM-G)

✦Key Features

• Budget FY2026-27: Rs 95,692 crore (vs MGNREGA Rs 86,000 crore in FY2025-26)
• Guarantees 125 days employment per household per year (vs 100 days under MGNREGA)
• Announced in Union Budget 2026-27 (February 1, 2026) as MGNREGA successor
• Normative funding model: shifts from demand-driven to planned allocation
• Integrates rural employment with livelihood, skill development, and asset creation
• MGNREGA continues with Rs 30,000 crore in FY2026-27 during transition
• Combined allocation: Rs 1.25 lakh crore (G-RAM-G + MGNREGA) in FY2026-27

✓Eligibility Criteria

• Rural households identified as poor through the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011
• Priority is given to households with special categories such as SC/ST and women-headed families
• Willingness to form or join neighborhood-based Self Help Groups (SHGs) for collective action

★Benefits

• Provision of a Revolving Fund (RF) to strengthen the financial base of the SHG group
• Access to a Community Investment Fund (CIF) for initiating diverse livelihood activities
• Interest subvention on bank loans to ensure credit is available at affordable rates
• Intensive skill training and capacity building for self-employment or wage employment

▶Application Process

• Identification of potential beneficiaries through community-based participatory identification of the poor
• Formation of Self Help Groups and their subsequent federation at the village and cluster levels
• Opening of a group savings bank account and registration on the mission's digital portal
• Submission of a Micro-Credit Plan to the bank for the disbursement of initial revolving funds

₹ Budget Allocation

95692

Funding Ratio (Centre:State): 90:10 (NE and Hilly States), 60:40 (Other States)

Historical Context

Originating from the MGNREGA Act of 2005, the scheme has been the world's largest public works program. In the context of Budget 2026-27, it is being rebranded and expanded to meet the higher income requirements of a developing economy.

Sub-Schemes

Challenges

• Ensuring the timely payment of wages through Aadhaar-Based Payment Systems (ABPS)
• Overcoming the historical issue of poor asset quality and lack of maintenance
• Addressing the variation in state-level implementation capacities
• Balancing the inflationary impact of higher rural wage spending
• Mapping skills to ensure transition from manual labor to skilled ajeevika

Reforms & Recommendations

• Linking wages strictly to Consumer Price Index-Rural (CPI-R)
• Expanding the list of permissible works to include green energy assets
• Strengthening Social Audit mechanisms at the Gram Panchayat level

Performance Statistics

SDG Linkages

Constitutional Backing

Technology Used

Success Stories

Key Takeaways

• 125 days of guaranteed employment
• Emphasis on Ajeevika (Livelihood) over simple labor
• Integration with Viksit Bharat 2047 vision
• Highest ever budget allocation for rural employment in FY 2026-27

Convergence Schemes

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)
• Jal Jeevan Mission

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