Overview
- Official dashboard data show person-days fell to 7.67 crore in July 2026 from 15.33 crore in July 2025, a 49.94% drop, and households using the scheme fell about 51.45% to roughly 68.94 lakh.
- The Ministry of Rural Development says implementation was not affected and that more than 99.5% of workers who sought work were provided jobs, while ministry sources pointed to agriculture pauses in several states, floods in the Northeast and AI-driven data validation as partial causes.
- Analysts and opposition figures say VB‑GRAMG’s changes — more central planning, new digital requirements such as biometric attendance and e-KYC, and a shift toward budget-driven allocation — could limit demand-driven access to work.
- A Systematix analysis cited by Dhananjay Sinha estimates states’ fiscal contributions could jump to about Rs 35,300 crore in FY27 under VB‑GRAMG compared with about Rs 8,690 crore under MGNREGA last year, raising concerns about state budget pressure.
- VB‑GRAMG replaced MGNREGA on July 1, 2026 and increased the guaranteed days from 100 to 125 while adding a 60-day agriculture pause; observers say August and later monthly data will be decisive in showing whether July’s fall was seasonal, a product of data cleaning, or structural.