"Technology integration in rural welfare schemes raises both efficiency and exclusion concerns. With reference to Sections 23 and 24 of the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, discuss how biometric and geospatial mandates can be implemented without marginalising the digitally excluded rural poor."* *

The VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, which repeals MGNREGA, 2005 with effect from 1 July 2026 and raises the wage-employment guarantee to 125 days, is the first rural employment law to hard-code technology into statute [1]. Sections 23 and 24 make biometric authentication, geo-tagging and real-time dashboards statutory mandates rather than administrative discretion [3] — a design that can deliver efficiency only if it does not become a new gatekeeper.

Efficiency gains from the technology mandate

• Biometric attendance attacks ghost workers and inflated muster rolls, the most systemic leakage under MGNREGA [3].
• Geo-tagging of assets enables verification of works under the four thematic areas — water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood infrastructure and works to mitigate extreme weather events [1].
• Real-time dashboards and weekly public disclosure shift transparency from periodic audit to continuous visibility [3].
• Convergence with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan and the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack allows spatial planning of durable assets [2].

Exclusion risks

• Biometric failure affects manual labourers most — worn fingerprints, elderly and disabled workers — precisely the groups the guarantee protects.
• Patchy rural connectivity can convert a technical failure into denial of work or wage.
• Digital-first processes disadvantage women, migrants and remote habitations lacking devices or literacy.

Safeguards for inclusive implementation

• Treat authentication as verification, not eligibility: mandate documented offline/exception registers so failed authentication never denies work.
• Use the unemployment allowance trigger after 15 days as an enforceable remedy where system failure delays employment [3].
• Deploy Section 20 Gram Sabha social audits to review exception cases and rejections, keeping technology accountable to the community [3].
• Use the administrative expenditure ceiling, raised from 6% to 9%, to fund field-level digital assistance and trained functionaries [2].

Technology in VB-G RAM G is best read as a means to secure the entitlement, not a condition upon it. If biometric and geospatial mandates are paired with grievance-backed exception protocols and Gram Sabha oversight, the Act can advance both transparency and the Article 41 promise of the right to work, aligning with SDG-8 on decent work.