• The Centre has proposed renaming MGNREGA and increasing guaranteed rural employment from 100 to 125 days a year.
• The draft changes seek to alter the funding pattern to a 60:40 Centre–state cost-sharing model, placing a higher financial burden on states.
• Labour groups have raised concerns that the proposals could weaken the rights-based framework and worker entitlements under the scheme.
The Union government has proposed wide-ranging changes to the rural employment guarantee programme, including a new name, higher guaranteed workdays and a revised funding structure that would require states to shoulder a larger share of costs.
According to draft proposals circulated by the Centre, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) would be renamed the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin). The draft also suggests increasing the guaranteed employment from the current 100 days to 125 days in a financial year for rural households seeking unskilled manual work.
A key change relates to funding. The Centre has proposed a 60:40 cost-sharing formula between the Centre and states, replacing the existing arrangement under which the Centre bears the full wage cost and a major share of material expenses. States would be required to contribute more towards material and administrative costs under the revised framework.
The draft bill also allows state governments to temporarily halt work under the scheme for up to 60 days a year during peak agricultural seasons such as sowing and harvesting, depending on local conditions.
Social activists and labour groups have raised concerns that the proposed changes could weaken the rights-based nature of the employment guarantee programme. They argue that altering funding responsibilities and work provisions may dilute legal entitlements related to timely employment, wage payments and worker protections.
The draft estimates total annual expenditure on the revamped scheme at over ₹1.5 lakh crore, with the Centre’s share pegged at around ₹95,000 crore and the remainder to be met by states.
The proposed amendments are aimed at restructuring the nearly two-decade-old law that underpins one of the world’s largest social security programmes. The changes are expected to be debated further as the proposal moves through the legislative process.
