Mainstream WeeklyAn unanticipated increase in the guaranteed workdays from 100 to 125 for the willing rural households is one pivot of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (GRAMG). However, the absence of explicit intent or rationale raises apprehension about whether the expanded perimeter is a dynamic commitment, a viable pledge, rhetoric, a deflecting tactic or a smokescreen.
The 125 days of work seems one standalone guarantee in the sense that the preceding NREGA had the incremental proviso whereby 150 days of work could be provided to the property-less scheduled tribe families living in forest areas and to the households affected by a notified drought or natural calamity.
The 25 per cent ceiling enhancement suffers from a contradiction of sorts. The Objects and Reasons of the GRAMG do not make a strong but contrary case for the hike. The rationales advanced for the recasting of NREGA harped on significant socio-economic transformation in rural India, comprehensive coverage of social security interventions, diversification in the rural workforce and a shift of rural aspiration toward better and sustainable income, etc.
The Economic Survey, 2025-26, went a step further. It underscored declining public demand