Despite Promises of Expansion, VB-GRAM G Data Shows Sharp Decline in Rural Job Days for July 2026

By Agniva Ray

EMPLOYMENT GENERATION SCHEMES UNDER THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, such as MGNREGA have been one of the fundamental employment generating mechanisms in our country. However, official data as on August 9, 2026, revealed that only 7.67 crore person-days were generated under the VB-GRAM G (formerly known as the MGNREGA) Scheme in July 2026—which is 49.94% lower than the 15.33 crore person-days generated under the MGNREGA in the same month last year. 

The VB-GRAM G, or the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) is the flagship employment generation scheme of the Central government in India, which was revamped in 2025 in order to enhance its sphere of influence, number of people impacted, and the remuneration provisioned. Earlier it was known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which played a significant role in generating employment, particularly among the rural and downtrodden sections of the society. The newer version of the scheme—that is, the VB-GRAM G—was passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2025, and officially came into force across the country on July 1, 2026, replacing MGNREGA.

VB-GRAM G and the Status of Employment Registrations

In December, 2025, after a steadfast tussle in the Parliament, and a wave of protests by farmer and workers’ union across the country, the VB-GRAM G bill was finally passed, and replaced the decade-long MGNREGA. The new bill seeks to bring in certain key changes that aim at enhancing the flexibility of workers, recentering the Gram Panchayats as the centre of rural transformation,  strengthening the village economies and to generate sustainable livelihood mechanisms in the rural scapes of the country.

See Also: From 200 Workdays to Barely a Dozen, Tamil Nadu’s Farm Labourers are Being Pushed Toward Factory Work

Under the revamped rural employment guarantee scheme, the minimum days of working is increased from 100 to 125 days, alongside the proposed technological innovations. However, the official data on the scheme’s dashboard as on August 9, 2026, showed that only 7.67 crore-person days were generated under the refurbished scheme in July 2026, compared to the 15.33 crore person-days under the MGNREGA scheme last year.

This shows a sharp decline, amounting to a fall of 49.94%. The term ‘person-day’ is a unit of measurement calculated by the ideal amount of work done by a person in one working day. Thus, if a person-day measures the ideal work done by one person in a single day, then the fall from 15.33 crore to 7.67 crore person-days shows that far fewer days of work were effectively provided under the scheme in July 2026 compared to the previous year. 

However, the official data by the Ministry of Rural Development stated that around nine crore person-days of work were generated in the first month of the scheme’s implementation, which stands at odds with the data of the VB-GRAM G. 

Household Registrations Under the Scheme

In a similar fashion, the number of households who availed the rural job scheme also fell down by 51.45% in July, 2026. The data set showed that, while the number of households who availed the rural job scheme stood at 1.42 crore in the last year, it has come down significantly to 68.94 lakh in July 2026.

See Also: Tribal Women in Kerala’s Attapadi are Worried About VB-G RAM-G

This shows us clearly that a scheme which was revamped and redesigned to enhance the inclusion of workers and households had been unable to achieve its stated objectives. 

Employment Guarantee Schemes and Their Future 

This is a concerning trend, as the number of person-days and households registered under this rural employment scheme have been the lowest in last five years. With 68.94 lakh households as of July 2026, the average number of households who availed the VB-GRAM G scheme is 40% less than the average households (1.72 crore) in the last four years. Likewise, the person-days for the month of July 2026, is also much lesser than the average of the person-days in the last four years—21.56 crore average person days. 

According to the official release by the Press Information Bureau dated, June 30, 2026, the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-GRAM G] Act, 2025 will come into force across rural India with effect from July 1, 2026. The released notice further stated that, “The government has also decided on an interim allocation of ₹95,692.31 crore to States and Union Territories to ensure uninterrupted implementation, timely wage payments and seamless transition from the very first day of implementation.”

See Also: Centre releases over Rs 17,744 crore as wage payments under MGNREGA

Therefore, it is without doubt that the initial reports cite a bleak image of the scheme’s potential impact. The falling registration numbers, the declining person-days of work, and a steep fall in their averages rightly indicate the potential lacunas that the scheme embodies. There is indeed a sharp decline in rural jobs. However, it  would be far too quick to conclude anything at this moment. One would be in a better position to analyze, once the quarterly data is in place. 

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