Statement from the Feminist Policy Collective
Given the vision of achieving a ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’ with ‘Saksham Naari’ (the capable/empowered woman) at its core, the impact on women of replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA, 2005) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 is a matter of I am dem Feminist Policy Collective (FPC) deeply concerned. We are a voluntary group committed to transformative financing for gender equity in India. We urge the government to create an opportunity for wider public discussion on the new law before formulating rules for its implementation.
MGNREGA: a lifeline for poor rural women
Cited in many government and international publications, MGNREGA provides a universal guarantee of employment and livelihood for the rural poor, especially unskilled rural women, based on self-selection, job demand and decentralized planning, as well as essential care services. MGNREGA became a lifeline for millions of rural poor during the COVID-19 pandemic disaster by ensuring minimum wages. MGNREGA generated 286.18 crore person days in the last financial year (2024-25), supported 5.78 crore households and provided employment to 7.88 crore individuals. The impact on social justice is evident from the fact that 58% of MGNREGA beneficiaries are women, 18% are from SC and 18% are from ST communities. In addition, MGNREGA contained provisions for special works for senior citizens and persons with disabilities; Records show that 4.82 lakh beneficiaries have various disabilities in 2024-2025. A key strength of MGNREGA was the availability of jobs close to home, with maternity leave and crèche arrangements.
Decentralized planning and local work opportunities
MGNREGA was a needs-based program that enabled Gram Panchayats to select the works to be undertaken under MGNREGA, as an important part of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), which takes into account local priorities and develops community assets such as: B. Soil and conservation works including agricultural dams, desilting ponds/canals, internal roads in villages, walls for schools, local crematorium/burial ground and so on. This will now be in doubt as the VBGRAMG Act significantly alters decentralized micro-planning by restricting the autonomy of gram panchayats and undermining the inclusiveness of guaranteed work for unskilled agricultural workers.
Instead of planning work independently, panchayats are provided with muster lists and lists of employment opportunities, including those outside their jurisdiction. They may only undertake projects under the Viksit Gram Panchayat Scheme, subject to approval by District Program Coordinators and Block Level Program Officers appointed by the State Government. These officials will consolidate panchayat plans, match employment demand with available jobs and decide where to deploy workers, including in neighboring panchayats.
This centralization makes it difficult for women workers to access guaranteed employment, especially for those who cannot travel outside their villages, thereby weakening inclusivity. There is no mention of quality crèches (like Koosina Mane in Karnataka) or maternity leave; Minimum wages are no longer guaranteed as the wage rate is now set by the central government. Furthermore, it shifts decision-making power away from local authorities and makes the fate of the GPDP uncertain. Linking rural employment programs with major infrastructure projects under Prime Minister Gati Shakti risks neglecting small, unskilled rural employment. This incompatibility can affect the accessibility and inclusiveness of guaranteed work for marginalized rural communities, particularly women.
burden on states
The VBGRAMG law places greater financial responsibility on state governments. Any expenditure beyond the approved normative allocation must be borne by countries, which means that they must finance additional working days from their own budgets. Unlike MGNREGA, where the central government covered 100% of labor costs and 75% of material costs – almost 90% of the total expenditure – the new law changes the cost-sharing ratio. In most states, the central government only contributes 60%, leaving 40% to be managed by the states, significantly increasing the fiscal burden on already strained state finances. Exceptions are made for northeastern states, Himalayan states and Union Territories where the ratio remains 90:10.
Digital difficulties
The proposed law focuses on technology for planning, implementation, monitoring and social audits. Clause 24 calls for transparency through biometric authentication, geospatial planning, mobile dashboards, weekly disclosures and stricter audits. However, gram panchayats, elected representatives, staff and farm workers do not have the constant internet connection required to navigate such complex digital systems. Most gram panchayats find it difficult to even upload their GPDP on the mandatory e-Gramswaraj portal, a task that is usually done by a single, often untrained MIS worker in the block office. This reliance on technology risks excluding rural communities and weakens the accessibility of job guarantee programs.
Days of job insecurity
However, while VBGRAMG rhetorically promises to increase employment from 100 to 125 days a year for every rural household whose adult members voluntarily engage in unskilled manual labor, this is entirely dependent on the central government’s budget allocation, contradicting the previous demand-driven approach. The Central Government shall make a normative allocation to each State, estimated on the basis of objective parameters as prescribed in the rules of the Bill. The very real risk is that central government allocations may not provide 125 days of guaranteed employment. In recent years, only very few households (approx. 7%) were able to complete 100 working days.
Economic Insecurity for Farmworkers
We are extremely concerned that the new law will have a disproportionate impact on women workers from marginalized communities for whom MGNREGA is a critical support system. While the law purports to ensure an adequate rural workforce during the peak agricultural season, it mandates a two-month suspension of rural employment. This measure assumes that agriculture requires more labor, but agriculture already absorbs 46% of India’s workforce and contributes only 18% to gross value added, according to the latest PLFS. In rural areas, 60% of workers work in agriculture, while a striking 77% of rural women workers work in agriculture. By stopping guaranteed employment during the peak agricultural season, the law deprives poor agricultural workers – particularly women, SCs and STs – of choice, exposing them to exploitation by large landowners and dwindling bargaining power. This will result in rural and agricultural wages falling, while at the same time wage parity between genders will continue to decline. The structural threats to female agricultural workers, already documented in detail in the FPC-MAKAAM studyThere is a risk that these policies will become more severe and economic insecurity and social marginalization will increase.
Diploma
The Feminist Policy Collective is concerned about the transformation of a legally binding entitlement that guarantees employment for the most vulnerable into a state system with limited budgets: from providing demand-based livelihoods for women and marginalized groups to supply-side dependency, and from full central government funding to a high dependency on cash-strapped state governments. We are deeply disappointed that the VB-GRAMG Act 2025 has changed the nature of local employment from prioritizing local assets decided by the people and planned by their Gram Panchayats to large infrastructure projects at any distance, with decision-making by government functionaries, making it more difficult for women and marginalized groups to find employment where and when they need it most. We are extremely concerned that the expectation of 40% of government spending poses a real risk of creating hurdles in the implementation of the new law itself.
For further information please contact:
Dr. Nesar Ahmad – +91 98284-88855
Jashodhara Dasgupta – +91 99102 03477
Dr. Sona Mitra – +91 98180 11934
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