Discuss the key departures of the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 from the MGNREGA, 2005 framework. Does the shift from wage-employment guarantee to infrastructure/asset creation dilute the rights-based character of rural employment guarantee?

The Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, in force from 1 July 2026, repeals MGNREGA, 2005 and recasts India's rural employment guarantee as a development instrument aligned to Viksit Bharat @2047 [1]. It widens entitlements while reorienting outcomes — continuity and change together.

Key departures from MGNREGA, 2005

• Wider entitlement: guaranteed days raised from 100 to 125 per household per financial year, with an aggregated 60-day "pause" period in peak sowing/harvest seasons to free farm labour [1].
• Outcome reorientation: works structured into four thematic domains — water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood infrastructure, and extreme-weather mitigation — replacing open-ended earthwork lists [1].
• Payment discipline: wages weekly, and in no case beyond a fortnight after work [1].
• Delivery capacity: administrative expenditure ceiling raised from 6% to 9% for staffing, training and technical support [1].
• Fiscal federalism: calibrated cost-sharing — 60:40 generally, 90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan States, 100% Central for UTs without legislature; FY 2026-27 Central provision of ₹95,692.31 crore, with total outlay likely above ₹1.51 lakh crore [2].

Does it dilute the rights-based character?

• Rights core intact: the demand-driven statutory guarantee survives — work on demand, with unemployment allowance payable after 15 days where work is not provided [1]. Legally, the entitlement remains justiciable, not discretionary.
• Rights arguably deepened: 25 extra days, faster wage settlement and higher administrative funding address the classic MGNREGA failures of delayed payment and thin field staff [1][3].
• Legitimate concerns: asset-led planning risks supply-driven work selection, and phased transition from MGNREGS could disrupt access for the most vulnerable [3]. "Pause days" need careful notification so lean-season demand is not squeezed.

The shift is better read as layering productivity onto entitlement than as retreat from it. Provided Gram Panchayat plans stay demand-anchored and social audits remain robust, the Act can serve both income security and durable rural capital — advancing Article 41's directive on the right to work and SDG-8's decent-work goal.