New Delhi

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, which reframes the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and provides a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment per rural household per year.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who introduced the bill, defended renaming the scheme, asserting it aligns with Mahatma Gandhi’s social and economic ideals. The legislation also focuses on strengthening rural livelihoods, accelerating development, and integrating public works into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack.

The Bill mandates modern digital governance using biometric authentication, GPS, mobile monitoring, real-time dashboards, and AI for planning and fraud mitigation. It also establishes Central and State Grameen Rozgar Guarantee Councils and steering committees for oversight.

Under the Bill, rural infrastructure planning will be linked with PM Gati Shakti and district- and state-level mechanisms. Any Indian citizen aged 18 or above in rural areas can apply and is guaranteed employment within 15 days of application.

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During debates, opposition members pressed for referral to the Standing Committee, while the ruling BJP defended the Bill as a key step toward achieving the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.