Rural jobs scheme shows modest uptick in August, but trails 2025 MGNREGA levels
July and August show lower employment generation year-on-year as cumulative persondays fall 32%, from 29.78 crore to 20.21 crore; 60-day pause in agricultural activity led to dip in jobs, say Ministry officials
The government’s new rural employment scheme, Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (VB-GRAM G), demonstrated a modest uptick in August compared to previous months but still fell short of the MGNREGA levels in 2025. Despite the modest improvement, VB-GRAM G trailed behind MGNREGA in August 2026, with a 9% decline in employment generation compared to the same period in 2025.
The cumulative persondays generated by VB-GRAM G dropped from 29.78 crore in July to 20.21 crore in August 2026, a 32.13% decline. However, the comparison may be skewed due to West Bengal, where MGNREGA was frozen in December 2021, resulting in no persondays generated in the state during the same period. The scheme’s performance is being cautiously assessed by the Union Rural Development Ministry, citing the 60-day pause in agricultural activity as a contributing factor to the dip in employment generation.
As of now, 16 States and Union Territories have defined their peak agricultural periods, enabling VB-GRAM G to align with local agricultural calendars and minimize competition with peak agricultural activity. Over 6.40 lakh new Gramin Rozgar Guarantee cards have been issued under the scheme, with 95% of registered workers having completed their e-KYC, despite the pending e-KYC of 15.89 crore workers not preventing them from accessing employment.
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