NEW DELHI: Over 11.4 crore person-days have been generated since the rollout of Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB G RAM G Act), which replaced MGNREGA, according to the govt portal on the new scheme. Women account for 61.5% of the total person-days so far.Even under the now-repealed MGNREGA, women’s participation over the years was over 50%, with data available from 2013-14 indicating a rise, which saw 2023-24 witnessing the highest 58.9%. In 2025-26, the women person-days was at 57.25% .While this is seen as a positive indicator of livelihood options for rural women, civil society organisations have over the years said that women comprise a growing majority as men often seek out open-market or male-specific agricultural wages that exceed the scheme’s statutory payouts.Amid continuing demands from states for raising the wages, revised wage rates were notified by govt, with a new interim base wage rate of Rs 300 per day when VB G RAM G scheme was rolled out from July 1. The national average notified wage was cited to have increased from Rs 298.8 per day under MGNREGA to Rs 327.4 under VB G RAM G, representing an average increase of Rs 28.6 per day. Prior to the notification, wage rates in several states were below Rs 300, with the lowest notified wage being Rs 241 per day.However, the parliamentary standing committee on rural development and panchayati raj, in its report submitted last week in Parliament, reiterated its concern over the wages and recommended that the department of rural development carry out a comprehensive review of the wage-determination methodology, including the appropriateness of the 2011 base year and the adequacy of Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL). The panel recommended that the ministry consider instituting a minimum wage floor of Rs 400 per day with regional differentiation and ensure systematic and meaningful indexation to a robust inflation indicator that reflects actual rural living costs.“Pending structural revision, necessary fiscal space should be sought for a significant upward adjustment in the current cycle,” the panel chaired by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka said. The panel has sought an action taken report on the fresh recommendations from the department of rural development within three months.
