Kashmir Impulse Desk

Srinagar, June 24

Jammu and Kashmir will replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with a new employment programme from July 1 that promises longer wage employment, greater use of digital monitoring and stronger emphasis on rural infrastructure and livelihoods, according to an official notification issued on Wednesday.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha notified the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM-G, under the provisions of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025.

The scheme will apply across all notified rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir and forms part of the broader Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.

The programme guarantees up to 125 days of wage employment annually to every eligible rural household willing to undertake unskilled manual work, increasing the employment guarantee from the previous 100 days under MGNREGA.

Authorities will be required to employ within 15 days of demand, failing which, eligible applicants will receive unemployment allowance. Wages are to be paid weekly or within a fortnight, with compensation for delayed payments.

One of the key changes is a mandatory 60-day suspension of public works during peak sowing and harvesting periods, a provision intended to ensure adequate labour availability for agriculture while avoiding disruption to farming activities.

The scheme prioritises the creation of durable community assets and focuses investment in four sectors: water security, core rural infrastructure, livelihood enhancement, and climate and disaster resilience.

Planning will be undertaken through Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans using geographic information systems and PM Gati Shakti mapping tools to improve project selection, reduce duplication and encourage convergence among government programmes.

The notification provides additional safeguards for vulnerable sections, including single women, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, members of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, released bonded labourers and transgender persons through dedicated Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards. At least one-third of programme beneficiaries must be women.

The new programme also introduces an extensive digital governance framework, including biometric and facial authentication of attendance, GPS-enabled monitoring, geofencing of worksites, artificial intelligence-based analytics, electronic muster rolls and mandatory public disclosure of project information.

To preserve the employment-generating nature of the programme, contractors and labour-displacing machinery will not be permitted at worksites.

Gram Panchayats will continue to serve as the primary implementing agencies, handling household registration, work applications, issuance of guarantee cards and execution of approved projects, while oversight will be strengthened at the Union Territory, district and block levels.

The programme will continue as a centrally sponsored scheme with a 90:10 funding ratio between the central government and the Jammu and Kashmir administration. Administrative allocations have been increased to strengthen staffing, monitoring, grievance redressal, social audits and accountability mechanisms.

Officials said the scheme is intended to combine expanded employment opportunities with technology-driven governance and climate-resilient rural development, marking one of the most significant changes to J&K’s rural employment architecture in recent years.