Centre has notified that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 will be repealed from July 1, 2026.
It will be done under the new Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025.
A new report shows steep declines in MGNREGA employment, persondays and households completing 100 days.
It has raised concerns over rural livelihoods and the transition to VB-GRAM G.
In a gazetted notification by the central government, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, MGNREGA, will cease from July 1, 2026.
In its notification issued on May 11, it said, “together with all rules, notifications, schemes, orders and guidelines made thereunder, shall stand repealed.”
It stated that the repeal is being done under the provisions of new Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025.
Meanwhile, a national report by LibTech India found the employment under the MGNREGA in its last financial year 2025-26 marked a significant decline in generation as it transited towards new VB-GRAM G framework.
The report was released by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a national platform of workers’ organisations, trade unions, activists and civil society groups working on issues related to MGNREGA and rural livelihoods.
LibTech is a collective of engineers, social workers, and researchers working on public service delivery, welfare systems, transparency, and accountability across multiple states in India.
The report noted that 45.4 per cent of all workers, that is 115.8 million, and 9.5 per cent of the active workers, that is 9.5 million, did not complete eKYC for MGNREGA because of technological hurdles and were deprived of the employment.
The data showed that 4.4 million fewer households were enrolled in FY 2025-26, while 6.7 million fewer workers accessed employment. It reflected a drop in total persondays by 577.1 million, showing a declining trend of average persondays shrinking from 50.18 to 42.92.
Households completing 100 days of employment declined by 40.5 per cent, the report said. “The decline was geographically widespread, with 15 out of 20 major states analysed registering a fall in persondays generated during the year. Quarterly trends presented in the report show that employment losses persisted throughout the year, with particularly sharp declines during Q3 and Q4 of FY 2025–26,” a statement from NSM said.
The report situated these trends within a broader context of administrative, technological and policy changes, including the transition following the repeal of MGNREGA and rollout of the VB-GRAM G framework, while cautioning that the data does not permit direct causal attribution. It also highlighted the income implications of reduced employment generation, it added.
The experts noted that despite an increase in average wage rates, the wage expenditure dropped from Rs 67,834.79 crore to Rs 56,264.91 crore in FY 2025-26, indicating the impact of reduced employment availability on rural households.
NSM raised that the ongoing transition of the scheme was implemented without sufficient public consultation.
Employment guarantee programmes play a crucial role in rural livelihood security and a major overhaul such as the MGNREGA must involve meaningful consultation with workers’ organisations, grassroots groups, researchers, trade unions, and civil society organisations working closely with rural communities, NSM underlined.
It has demanded the Union Government calls for structured consultations with civil society organisations and workers’ collectives on the transition to VB-GRAM G. Ensuring transparency regarding implementation, protecting employment access and reducing the technological barriers should be at the crux of the VB-GRAM G, the members of the organisation said.
Their statement emphasised that public employment programmes must continue to remain accessible, rights-oriented, and responsive to the needs of vulnerable rural households.