CivilsKash
VB-G RAM G and Rural Entitlements—Adivasi, Dalit, and DPSP Concerns
The Union government has passed the Viksit Bharat–G RAM G Bill, 2025, repealing the MGNREGA 2005—India’s only statutory, justiciable guarantee of 100 days of unskilled work on demand for every rural household. While the new framework raises the limit to 125 days, it removes the demand-driven character and links work availability to annual financial ceilings set by the Centre, shifting larger fiscal liability onto States and weakening unemployment-allowance protection. Critics argue this violates Article 41 (DPSP), which directs the State to secure the “right to work” irrespective of economic conditions, and undermines decentralised planning under PRI mandates in Schedule XI.
The editorial emphasises that MGNREGA disproportionately benefited Adivasis, Dalits, women agricultural labourers and the landless, offering wage parity, bargaining power and a hedge against agrarian distress.
The new regime’s digitised attendance and Aadhaar-linked payments risk excluding workers in areas with low connectivity, especially forest and hilly regions. Combined with stagnant rural wages, rising indebtedness, and employer dominance in informal labour markets, the change is seen as eroding a crucial livelihood lifeline for historically-marginalised communities.
The editorial emphasises that MGNREGA disproportionately benefited Adivasis, Dalits, women agricultural labourers and the landless, offering wage parity, bargaining power and a hedge against agrarian distress.
The new regime’s digitised attendance and Aadhaar-linked payments risk excluding workers in areas with low connectivity, especially forest and hilly regions. Combined with stagnant rural wages, rising indebtedness, and employer dominance in informal labour markets, the change is seen as eroding a crucial livelihood lifeline for historically-marginalised communities.