Centre fixes wage; VB-G RAM G to offer minimum ₹300 a day
The Central government has fixed a floor wage of ₹300 per day under the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025, which came into effect on Tuesday replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005.The 21 States and Union Territories that paid less than ₹300 per day under the MGNREGA have had their wage rates increased to this level, while States already paying above ₹300 saw more minimal hikes.
Significant hike
Four major Hindi-belt States saw significant wage increases — ₹48 in Uttar Pradesh, ₹45 in Bihar, ₹39 in Madhya Pradesh, and ₹19 in Rajasthan — compared with the last MGNREGA rates set in 2025-26. Haryana (₹409), Goa (₹406) and Kerala (₹401) are the only States with wage rates above ₹400. Barring the U.T. of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, where wages remain unchanged from the MGNREGA levels, Telangana recorded the lowest increase of just ₹1, with wages rising 0.33% from ₹307 to ₹308.
Other southern States, which were already above the ₹300 level, saw minimal hikes, including Andhra Pradesh (1.6%), Tamil Nadu (2.7%), and Karnataka (3.2%).
Excluding the special rate of ₹450 applicable to certain gram panchayats in Sikkim, Haryana continues to have the highest wage rate at ₹409, but recorded one of the lowest increases of just 2.25%.
Northern and northeastern States which saw wage hikes above 15% to reach the ₹300 level include Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, and West Bengal.
Cong. criticism
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary and former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh criticised the notification, saying the wages remain “unjustifiably low”.
He reiterated the Congress’s demand, made during the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign under its Shramik Nyay programme, for a national daily minimum wage of ₹400 for all workers in India, including MGNREGA workers.
“The Expert Committee headed by Dr. Anoop Satpathy, set up by the Modi government, had also recommended a national minimum wage floor of ₹375 per day in 2019,” he noted.
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