Explainer: Viksit Bharat Rural Employment Act Defended As Government Rebuts Criticism Over Wages Transparency

The government says the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Act does not weaken any worker rights and instead builds on the existing welfare system by keeping employment guarantees grievance redressal and legal safeguards fully intact while focusing more on dignity of labour transparency and real empowerment of rural workers.

Why Is There A Sixty Day Pause In Work?
The sixty day pause has been introduced so that workers are not forced to choose between farm work and government employment during peak sowing and harvesting seasons and since agriculture ministers earlier also supported an off season the states are free to decide these sixty days based on their own crop cycles which helps farmers protect their main income while also keeping rural job schemes in balance and this flexibility allows different regions to follow their own agricultural calendars without pressure while ensuring that labour availability is not disrupted during critical crop periods.

Does Cost Sharing Put Extra Burden On States?
The government says cost sharing improves fiscal discipline because states already have the main responsibility to implement rural schemes and when states invest their own funds they plan better execute projects more carefully and maintain assets properly which improves long term development outcomes and also creates stronger ownership of projects at the local level while preventing careless spending and encouraging better use of public money.

Why Was The Demand Based System Changed?
The open ended demand based system created budget mismatch so now work will be planned through Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans and approved infrastructure projects which means jobs will open only when there is a real asset to be built while workers are still guaranteed at least one hundred twenty five days and allowance if work is delayed and this makes employment more organised predictable and linked to meaningful development instead of random or wasteful works while also allowing the government to manage budgets better reduce last minute fund shortages ensure projects have long term value avoid duplication of works and link employment directly with village development goals.

Are Workers Still Protected If States Exceed Limits?
The law clearly says if a worker asks for work and it is not provided within fifteen days unemployment allowance must be paid and even if a state spends more by choice the legal rights of workers are fully protected so no one can be denied their guaranteed employment or wages and this ensures that the burden of policy decisions never falls on poor rural workers while their entitlements remain legally secure and also gives them the confidence to demand work without fear provides legal backing to their income supports household stability and prevents arbitrary denial of employment.

How Will Corruption And Ghost Workers Be Stopped?
The government says biometric attendance Aadhaar integration and the National Electronic Fund Management System now ensure wages go directly into worker bank accounts which prevents fake job cards middlemen fraud and fund leakages that were common in manual systems and this digital tracking also improves transparency accountability and trust in the entire employment framework while making records tamper proof ensuring every worker is verified cutting down duplicate entries stopping fake names and creating a clear audit trail.

Is This Just A Name Change Or A Real Reform?
The government says the Act raises work guarantee from one hundred to one hundred twenty five days strengthens wage protection links planning with PM Gati Shakti and modern infrastructure data and improves outcome based spending which makes it a structural reform rather than a symbolic change and also aligns rural employment with long term national development goals while connecting villages to larger infrastructure plans improving asset quality ensuring better use of funds promoting coordinated planning and creating long lasting public assets.

How Does The Act Address Falling Rural Poverty?
The government says rural poverty has fallen sharply in the last decade which means the nature of rural employment must also change and the new Act focuses more on productive asset creation skill based work and long term income generation rather than only short term wage support while helping workers build future earning capacity improving village productivity creating durable infrastructure supporting local economies and reducing long term dependence on government support.

Why Is Technology Central To The New Framework?
The Act brings in digital tracking biometric attendance and real time fund transfer to make sure every rupee reaches the real worker and this reduces corruption delays and fake entries while making the system more reliable and efficient for rural labourers by cutting human interference speeding up payments increasing accuracy building worker trust improving monitoring and strengthening financial transparency across all levels.

What Is The Long Term Vision Of The Act?
The government says the aim is not only to provide daily wages but to build durable infrastructure better villages and self sustaining rural economies so that people can earn with dignity and depend less on government schemes over time while creating local employment hubs improving agricultural productivity strengthening village markets boosting rural industries and ensuring balanced national growth.