GRAM G Bill, 2025: A Revised Rural Employment Guarantee with Infrastructure Focus
Overview
Rural wage employment has long supported income stability and basic asset creation. A new statutory proposal, titled the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, seeks to replace the earlier framework and align rural employment with long-term development and accountability outcomes.
Why a New Statutory Reset Was Considered
Over time, implementation reforms improved digital governance and transparency, including near-universal electronic wage payments and expanded geo-tagged asset monitoring, alongside rising participation by women. However, persistent structural issues were reported in monitoring, such as gaps between recorded works and field reality, mismatches between spending and physical progress, and bypassing attendance controls, indicating limits of incremental reform. The reform rationale also reflects broader socio-economic change, with declining poverty and more diversified, digitally integrated rural livelihoods compared to the mid-2000s context.
Core Entitlement and Work Design
The Bill proposes a strengthened employment guarantee of 125 days of wage work per rural household in a financial year for adult members volunteering for unskilled manual work. It introduces an aggregated 60-day “no-work” window intended to protect peak agricultural sowing and harvesting periods, while keeping the 125-day entitlement available within the remaining days of the year. Wage disbursement is structured to be weekly, or in any case not later than a fortnight after the work is completed.
Infrastructure Linkage and Planning Architecture
Employment creation is explicitly linked with durable rural infrastructure across four priority verticals: water security works, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and special works to mitigate extreme weather impacts. Assets created are proposed to be aggregated into a national rural infrastructure “stack” to support a unified development strategy, while planning is decentralised through locally prepared Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans that are spatially integrated with national planning systems.
Financial Model and Predictability
A central design shift is the move from demand-based funding to normative allocation, to reduce unpredictability and align budgeting with objective parameters while preserving entitlement and unemployment allowance provisions. The proposed annual funding requirement is presented as Rs. 1,51,282 crore (including the State share), with an estimated Central share of Rs. 95,692.31 crore, alongside a standard 60:40 Centre–State ratio, enhanced 90:10 support for North Eastern and Himalayan states, and full Central funding for Union Territories without legislatures. Provisions also indicate additional assistance during disasters and stronger oversight to reduce long-term fiscal leakage.
Administrative Capacity and Field Delivery
The reform proposes strengthening implementation capacity by increasing the administrative expenditure ceiling from 6% to 9%, enabling improved staffing, training, remuneration support, and technical capacity at field level. This approach treats administrative capacity as a critical enabler of service delivery, planning quality, execution standards, and accountability at the village level.
Institutions for Implementation and Monitoring
The institutional design outlines multi-level bodies for guidance and oversight, including Central and State Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Councils and Steering Committees for strategic direction and performance review. Panchayati Raj Institutions lead planning and execution, with Gram Panchayats expected to implement at least half of the works in cost terms, supported by District Programme Coordinators and Programme Officers managing planning, compliance, payments, and social audits. Gram Sabhas are positioned with a strengthened role in social audits and record access for local transparency.
Transparency, Enforcement, and Social Protection
The Bill proposes clear enforcement powers for the Centre to investigate complaints, suspend releases in cases of serious irregularities, and direct corrective measures to protect public funds and maintain discipline. A comprehensive transparency framework is described, including biometric-based verification, GPS/mobile monitoring, real-time dashboards, weekly public disclosures, and mandatory social audits at least once every six months. Where work is not provided, an unemployment allowance becomes payable after 15 days, with liability placed on the States and conditions to be specified through rules.
Expected Outcomes and Rural Economy Effects
The proposed model aims to raise household earnings through the expanded work guarantee while building productive assets that improve water security, connectivity, storage, and climate resilience measures such as drainage, soil conservation, and water harvesting. It also describes benefits to farmers via assured labour availability during peak seasons through state-notified pauses, alongside improved irrigation, storage, and connectivity, while labourers gain from predictable work planning, secure payments, and the statutory unemployment allowance safeguard.
Conclusion
The Bill is framed as a decisive shift in rural employment policy: retaining employment security while reorienting the programme toward durable infrastructure outcomes, stronger implementation capacity, and tighter accountability through planning integration and monitored delivery systems.
MCQ:
1. Under the GRAM G Bill, 2025, the proposed annual wage-work entitlement per rural household is:
(a) 100 days
(b) 110 days
(c) 125 days
(d) 150 days
2. The Bill introduces an aggregated “no-work” window of:
(a) 30 days
(b) 45 days
(c) 60 days
(d) 75 days
3. Wage payments are proposed to be made:
(a) Monthly only
(b) Weekly, or not later than a fortnight after work completion
(c) Only after project completion
(d) Quarterly through cash disbursement
4. The Bill explicitly links wage employment with durable rural infrastructure through how many priority verticals?
(a) Two
(b) Three
(c) Four
(d) Five
5. Which of the following is NOT listed among the priority verticals for infrastructure linkage?
(a) Water security works
(b) Core rural infrastructure
(c) Livelihood-related infrastructure
(d) Urban metro connectivity works
6. Planning is proposed to be decentralised through locally prepared:
(a) District Vision 2035 Reports
(b) Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans
(c) State Capital Region Plans
(d) Regional Industrial Master Plans
7. Assets created are proposed to be aggregated into a national rural infrastructure:
(a) Ledger
(b) Stack
(c) Portal
(d) Census
8. A major funding design shift proposed is moving from:
(a) Normative allocation to demand-based funding
(b) Demand-based funding to normative allocation
(c) State-only funding to private funding
(d) Cash funding to barter funding
9. The standard cost-sharing ratio indicated is:
(a) 50:50
(b) 60:40
(c) 70:30
(d) 75:25
10. For North Eastern and Himalayan states, the enhanced support ratio indicated is:
(a) 80:20
(b) 85:15
(c) 90:10
(d) 95:05
11. For Union Territories without legislatures, the funding pattern indicated is:
(a) 60:40
(b) 75:25
(c) 90:10
(d) Full central funding
12. The administrative expenditure ceiling is proposed to be increased from 6% to:
(a) 7%
(b) 8%
(c) 9%
(d) 10%
13. The Bill proposes that Gram Panchayats should implement at least the following share of works in cost terms:
(a) One-fourth
(b) One-third
(c) Half
(d) Three-fourths
14. If work is not provided, unemployment allowance becomes payable after:
(a) 7 days
(b) 10 days
(c) 15 days
(d) 30 days
15. Mandatory social audits are proposed to be conducted at least:
(a) Once every month
(b) Once every quarter
(c) Once every six months
(d) Once every year
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