Overview
- The Union government has replaced MGNREGA with the VB-GRAMG law, which has been notified but is awaiting implementing rules.
- Rural development ministry data show 18.44 million people sought MGNREGS work in December, down 28.4% year-on-year, with 196.6 million seeking work in the fiscal’s first three quarters, a 15.3% decline.
- The Telangana Assembly adopted a resolution urging restoration of MGNREGA, arguing the new law undermines wage-work rights and alters the funding balance against states.
- At a civil-society press conference, activists and legal experts demanded scrapping VB-GRAMG, citing removal of the right to demand work, caps on workdays, restrictions to Centre-notified areas, a 60:40 cost split ending full central wage payments, and a 60-day bar during peak farm seasons.
- Fiscal effects remain contested, with an economist estimating Karnataka’s annual costs could rise to about ₹2,729 crore for current employment levels and over ₹7,573 crore for 125 days of work, even as an SBI report suggested states may receive ₹17,000 crore more in central funds; a senior official defended earlier spending caps as prudent.