Page 34 - NIS English 16-31 Jan, 2026

PARLIAMENT | Winter Session

Highlights of the Act:

n The wage employment guarantee for rural households annually has been
increased from 100 days per year under MGNREGA to 125 days under
the new law.
n To facilitate the availability of agricultural labour for activities during the
sowing and harvesting seasons, this Act empowers the states to provide
a break period of up to 60 days in a financial year. The total entitlement
of 125 days of employment will remain unchanged.

n The states will publish a summary of the scheme formulated under this
act in two newspapers. It will also specify the terms and conditions.

n Until the Central Government notifies new wages under this Act,
the wages will not be less than the current wages notified under the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
n If employment is not provided within 15 days to those who have
applied for it, they will be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance.
This allowance will be notified by the state government, but it will not
be less than 1/4 of the wage rate for the first 30 days. For the remaining
period of the financial year, it will not be less than half of the wage rate. Bapu himself spoke of
n Daily wages will be disbursed on a weekly basis, and in no case will Ram Rajya. This country
payment be delayed beyond 15 days from the day the work was resonates with the presence
performed. of Lord Rama. For some

n The Gram Sabha will monitor all the works undertaken under this Act. reason, when the name
The Gram Panchayat will provide all the necessary documents. of Lord Rama came up,

n The expenditure ratio between the Central Government and the State some people got agitated.
Government for the works under this Act will be 90:10 for the North-
Eastern states, Himalayan states, and Union Territories – Uttarakhand, Mahatma Gandhi himself
Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir – and 60:40 for other spoke of establishing Ram
states and states with legislatures. Rajya; his last words were

n Biometric authentication, geo-referencing, satellite imagery, and digital “Hey Ram”. We have the
mapping of works will be used for monitoring. A mobile app with a utmost respect for Bapu.
dashboard-based monitoring mechanism will be used to track demand,
work, worker deployment, and progress in real time. Shivraj Singh Chouhan
n A grievance redressal mechanism will be developed at the block and Union Minister of Agriculture
district levels, and the Central Government will determine the process and Farmers Welfare and Rural
for resolving such grievances. Development
n A fine of up to Rs. 10,000 can be imposed for violating the act.

hood-generating activities, and disaster mitigation and adequate salaries so that they can work to their
will be undertaken. Another special provision has full potential.
been made: the administrative expenditure has
been increased from 6% to 9%. If we calculate 9% of JUSTIFICATION FOR THE NEW
the proposed amount of ₹1,51,282 crore, it comes STATUTORY FRAMEWORK
to approximately ₹13,000 crore. With this amount, Reforms are continuously needed for significant
the colleagues involved in implementing the work socio-economic changes. MGNREGA was imple-
– including the Panchayat Secretary, Employment mented in 2005, but rural India is now undergoing
Assistant, and technical staff – will receive timely transformation. The poverty level decreased from

32 NEW INDIA SAMACHAR || January 16-31, 2026