VB-G RAM G puts Andhra Pradesh’s rural job guarantee ‘at risk’
VISAKHAPATNAM: The replacement of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat-Grameen Rozgar Aur Mazdoor Guarantee (VB-G RAM G) Act marks a structural shift in rural employment policy in Andhra Pradesh, according to a report released by LibTech India on Saturday. The report stated that the new law moves away from employment as a legally enforceable, demand-driven right towards a framework shaped by fiscal capacity, administrative discretion and conditional access.
MGNREGA has functioned as an important source of livelihood in Andhra Pradesh, particularly for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women workers, who accounted for a disproportionately large share of employment under the programme, the report noted. Any dilution of the statutory guarantee, it said, is therefore likely to have uneven and distributional impacts.
The report highlighted that while the VB-G RAM G Act raises the employment ceiling from 100 days to 125 days, this does not ensure greater access to work. Under MGNREGA, employment was a statutory right supported by demand registration and unemployment allowance. Even within this framework, realised employment in Andhra Pradesh was constrained. During 2024-25, households received an average of 51.6 days of work, and only 11 percent completed 100 days. These outcomes, the report stated, reflected fiscal and administrative rationing rather than lack of demand.
A key concern identified is the change in financing. The VB-G RAM G Act introduces a 60:40 Centre-State cost-sharing ratio, significantly increasing the State’s fiscal burden. “Andhra Pradesh’s total liabilities, when on-budget debt is combined with off-budget and contingent liabilities, are estimated to be close to Rs 10 lakh crore, sharply limiting fiscal space,” the report read. LibTech India estimated that maintaining employment levels equivalent to 2024-25 would raise the State’s annual wage burden from about Rs 517 crore under MGNREGA to around Rs 3,470 crore.
“If 125 days of employment were provided, the State’s share could rise to about Rs 8,400 crore per year. Providing 125 days of work to all 65.5 lakh registered rural households would increase the State’s wage burden to approximately Rs 11,700 crore, even assuming a 60:40 cost-sharing arrangement,” it added. These estimates were described as conservative.
Coverage under the new law is also no longer universal. Unlike MGNREGA, which applied across rural Andhra Pradesh, the VB-G RAM G Act allows area-based and phased implementation, raising the risk of exclusion of dispersed and numerically smaller communities, particularly Adivasi groups.
The report further flagged concerns around technology. Digital systems for worker identification, attendance and wage payments are made statutory conditions.
Drawing from AP’s experience, LibTech India noted that around 78 lakh workers were removed from rolls following Aadhaar-based payment changes, with single women, persons with disabilities and workers in remote tribal areas disproportionately affected.