VB-G RAM G Act comes into force: Centre hikes average wages by 10%

The Centre has notified minimum wages under the new VB-G RAM G scheme, raising the national effective floor wage to ₹327.4 a day, while Congress called the rates inadequate

The Centre late Tuesday night notified the wage rates under the newly enacted Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G, a day before the scheme came into effect on Wednesday. The revised rates ensure that no state has a wage below ₹300 a day. As a result, the national average wage under VB-G RAM G has risen to ₹327.4 per day from ₹298.8 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which the new scheme replaced. This marks an increase of ₹28.6 a day, or nearly 10 per cent. The Centre said wage rates in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh have increased by 15-25 per cent. In Kerala, Haryana, Punjab, and Karnataka, wages now range from over ₹360 to ₹409 a day. 

It said the steepest hikes were made in historically low-wage states, a move that would strengthen the livelihoods of millions of rural workers. The government also said the Act has been notified in West Bengal, which had remained outside MGNREGA for the past two years. The Opposition Congress termed the revised wage rates “inadequate”, saying the minimum wage should be at least ₹400 a day. 

 

It also urged the government to adopt the 2019 recommendations of the Dr Anoop Satpathy Committee, with adjustments for inflation since then, to ensure a just minimum wage for India’s workers. Meanwhile, MGNREGA ended its more than two-decade long journey on Tuesday, with 22.45 million households demanding work in June 2026, almost 19 per cent less than a year-ago period, data showed.