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Rural Development Ministry notifies 375 permissible works under VB–G RAM G

By CAShorts DeskPublished Updated Source: Ministry of Rural Development/PIB; Gazette; Constitution of India

Rural Development Ministry notifies 375 permissible works under VB–G RAM G
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Ministry of Rural Development announced on October 6, 2026 that it has notified 375 permissible works under the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025, the law that replaced MGNREGA. That is 41% more than the 266 works of the earlier framework. Water Security has 128 works, Core Rural Infrastructure 111, Livelihood-related Infrastructure 98, and a first-ever disaster-preparedness category 38.

Syllabus: GS3 · Indian Economy & Growth; GS2 · Federalism & Local Government; GS2 · Welfare of Vulnerable Sections

Why it matters

A landless labourer in a dry village can be paid to build a check dam, a workshed for a women's Self-Help Group or a flood relief shelter, and the village keeps the asset after the wages are spent. Livelihood works such as cold storage and grading units made up 1.1% of the old list and are 26% of the new one, so wage work can now raise farm incomes directly. The disaster pillar lets villages build embankments and fire lines before a flood or forest fire strikes. Whether a longer list becomes timely work and wages depends on Gram Sabha planning and on States paying their 40% share.

Prelims pointers

  • Article 41: the State shall, within its economic capacity, secure the right to work. It is one of the Directive Principles of State Policy, not a Fundamental Right.
  • Article 37: Directive Principles are not enforceable by any court but are fundamental in governance. Article 40 directs the State to organise village panchayats.
  • Gram Sabha, Article 243(b): all persons on the electoral rolls of a village within a village-level Panchayat area. Article 243A: State law sets its powers.
  • Article 243G: State legislatures may empower Panchayats to prepare and implement plans for economic development and social justice, including Eleventh Schedule matters.
  • Eleventh Schedule: 29 subjects added by the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992, including minor irrigation and watershed development, poverty alleviation and maintenance of community assets.
  • Drip irrigation delivers water drop by drop at plant roots; with sprinklers it makes up micro-irrigation, which uses less water than flooding fields.
  • Recharge shafts and injection wells carry surface water down into aquifers; both are methods of artificial recharge of groundwater.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Gram Sabha under the Constitution of India, consider the following statements:

1. It consists of the members elected to the Panchayat at the village level.

2. It exercises such powers and functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State may provide by law.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 only
  3. (c) Both 1 and 2
  4. (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 only

1 is incorrect: under Article 243(b), the Gram Sabha is the body of all persons registered in the electoral rolls of a village within a village-level Panchayat area, not the elected members. 2 is correct: Article 243A leaves the Gram Sabha's powers and functions to be set by State law.

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