India’s new rural employment scheme – Vixit Bharat Guarantee Rozgar and Ajievika Mission (Grameen) Act (VB-G RAM G) – recorded 474,805 people employed in 34 states and union territories on its first day of operation on Wednesday, with four states accounting for more than 80% of the total, according to data from the mobile national monitoring system portal of the scheme run by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).
Notably, one of those four states – Telangana – is yet to formally notify the scheme and is working under the temporary MGNREGA arrangement allowed by the Union government.
The scheme, which replaced MGNREGA with effect from July 1, recorded 54,878 jobs and 109,297 muster lists – records kept at worksites recording workers’ daily attendance – across the country on the first day, generating 474,805 man-days, a unit that counts the attendance of one person in one working day. Andhra Pradesh topped the national tally with 149,428 personal days across 6,414 businesses, followed by Rajasthan with 118,080 personal days across 6,378 businesses, Kerala with 66,858 personal days across 2,951 businesses, and Telangana with 48,081 personal days across 26,203 businesses. Together these four states accounted for 382,447 days out of the total 474,805 days.
Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will officially launch the scheme on Thursday at Mukkavaripalli village in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. The Ministry of Rural Development has made a temporary allocation to $95,692.31 crore to states and union territories to ensure smooth transition and timely payment of wages.
The offering sparked sharp political reactions. Congress leader and RD Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman Saptagiri Ulaka on Wednesday described it as the “saddest day for the country”, saying VB-G RAM G is dismantling the legal guarantee of MGNREGA by making recruitment conditional on budget allocations rather than actual demand. Ulaka demanded wages of at least $100 $500 per day and the center regains its full financial responsibility for ensuring employment.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri criticized the Aam Aadmi Party, pointing out that Punjab – whose assembly had in December 2025 condemned the VB-G RAM G as a “black law” – eventually implemented the scheme from July 1, citing the state’s debt burden of Rs. $4.07 lakh crore and the debt to GDP ratio is 46%. “When there is a useful scheme that can help the people of your state, why not adopt it,” Puri said.
