The President has given approval to the V.B.G. Rama Rao Bill

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday gave her assent to the 'Viksit Bharat: Guarantee for Employment and Ajivika Mission (Gramin)' - VB.GRAM Bill 2025, which brings a significant change to the rural employment policy.
The law increases the legal guarantee of wage-based employment for rural households to 125 days in each financial year and seeks to promote empowered, holistic development, convergence of schemes, and effective delivery of services, thereby laying the foundation for a prosperous, skilled, and self-reliant rural India.
Earlier, Parliament had introduced the bill as a decisive reform in the country's rural employment and development framework, replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA), which had received approval from both Houses of Parliament. The law provides a modern legal framework to strengthen the protection of livelihoods, in line with the national vision of 'Viksit Bharat 2047'.
Based on the principles of empowerment, development, convergence, and completion, the law transforms rural employment from merely a welfare scheme to a comprehensive instrument of development. It strengthens the protection of rural households' income, modernizes governance and accountability, and links wage-based employment to the creation of sustainable and productive rural assets, further solidifying the foundation of a prosperous and skilled rural India.
The law provides a legal guarantee of at least 125 days of wage-based employment per financial year to every rural household, provided the adult members of the household are willing to do unskilled manual work.
This increase from the previously available 100 days of employment rights provides rural households with greater protection of their livelihoods, makes work more predictable, and stabilizes their income. At the same time, it enables them to play a more effective and meaningful role in national development.
Aimed at facilitating the availability of agricultural laborers for agricultural activities during the farming and harvesting seasons, the law empowers states to notify a total of 60 days of a break period in a financial year.
However, the right to 125 days of employment for laborers will remain intact, to be provided during the remaining period, thus ensuring a balanced harmony between agricultural productivity and the protection of laborers' interests.