How can rural employment programmes be leveraged for climate resilience and water security? Illustrate with the new Schedule of works under VB–G RAM G.

Rural employment programmes can turn surplus village labour into assets that protect villages from drought, floods and heat, such as ponds, check dams and embankments. The VB–G RAM G Act, 2025, which replaced MGNREGA, makes this link explicit. Its Schedule of 375 permissible works puts water security and disaster preparedness at its core [1].

How employment programmes build resilience

• Income when shocks hit: wage work during drought or after a disaster reduces distress migration and the sale of household assets. The guarantee is now 125 days a year [2].
• Labour-intensive land and water works: water harvesting, soil conservation and afforestation need many workers and little skill, so they suit a wage-employment scheme well.
• Local planning: the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan, approved by the Gram Sabha, lets each village choose works that match its own hazards [1]. These plans are to be mapped onto PM Gati Shakti [3].

Illustration: the new Schedule of works

• Water Security is the largest pillar, with 128 works: check dams, gully plugs, recharge shafts, injection wells, river and nallah rejuvenation, and drip and sprinkler irrigation [1].
• Works for specific regions: ice-stupas and artificial glaciers for cold deserts, and tankas for arid areas [1].
• Disaster preparedness is a new pillar, with 38 works: flood shelters, embankments, post-disaster restoration, and forest-fire fire lines and fuel-buffer zones [1].
• Circular economy: greywater treatment units and waste-to-wealth plants [1].
• Convergence with other schemes: repair and maintenance of Jal Jeevan Mission water-supply assets [1].

Constraints to address

• Technical capacity: injection wells and embankments need engineering design that Gram Panchayats often lack. The higher 9% cap on administrative spending [3] should pay for junior engineers.
• Fiscal limits: the normative allocation and 60:40 Centre–State cost sharing could restrict works in poor States where demand is high [2].
• Quality of works: the government itself has flagged machines being used on works meant for manual labour [3]. Geotagging and full social audit coverage are needed.

Overall, VB–G RAM G changes rural wage work from a relief measure into a tool for building climate-resilient assets. If States get predictable funds and village-level technical staff, and the Gram Sabha holds works to account, the 375-work Schedule can deliver both jobs and water security. This would advance SDG 6 and SDG 13 and the Sendai Framework, in line with the goal of a resilient Viksit Bharat @2047.