Congress slams Centre as VB-G RAM G (MGNREGA-replacing) wage rates notified

📌 Summary:

• Wage rates under the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G] Act, 2025 were notified on 1 July 2026
• Congress alleges the Act effectively repeals MGNREGA by replacing a demand-driven legal entitlement with a centrally-controlled, allocation-based programme
• Core shift in the causal logic: (1) MGNREGA = rights-based — any registered rural household could demand work; the administration was legally bound to provide employment within a stipulated time or pay an unemployment allowance; funding followed certified demand (2) VB-G RAM G = supply-based — employment now depends on advance budget allocations, approved labour budgets, centrally-determined ceilings, state contributions and administrative capacity, breaking the guarantee
• Funding pattern altered: Centre's share reduced to 60%; states must now contribute 40% of programme expenditure
• Wages criticised as low — largely Rs 300/day; Congress (Shramik Nyay, 2024) had promised a Rs 400 national daily minimum wage, and the Anoop Satpathy committee (2019) had recommended a Rs 375/day national floor
• Congress demands: withdraw the new funding structure, restore the Centre's responsibility for guaranteeing employment, protect job cards from arbitrary deletion, remove administrative barriers to employment
• Context: stagnation of rural wages is widely seen as a key constraint on economic growth; low wage notification called both a snub to workers and unwise economic policy

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 (rural employment, inclusive growth) and GS2 (welfare schemes, Centre-State fiscal relations) — the shift from a rights-based entitlement to an allocation-based programme, and the change in cost-sharing.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• VB-G RAM G = Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025
• New Centre:State funding ratio = 60:40
• Notified wage ~Rs 300/day; Satpathy committee (2019) recommended floor = Rs 375/day
• MGNREGA (2005) guarantees 100 days of wage employment; unemployment allowance payable if work not provided in time

🔑 Key Term: Demand-driven vs supply-based welfare — a rights-based entitlement guarantees work on demand, whereas a supply-based model limits employment to pre-approved budgetary allocations.