New Delhi, December 19:
After a marathon session that went well past midnight in the Rajya Sabha, Parliament has given the green light to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill – or VB-G RAM G Bill as everyone's calling it. This basically means goodbye to the old MNREGA, the 20-year-old law that promised 100 days of work to rural folks.

The bill had already cleared the Lok Sabha earlier yesterday, but not without a lot of noise from the opposition. They were up in arms, saying it's watering down the guarantees for the poor and shifting too much burden onto states. But it sailed through anyway, and now it's headed to the President for the final stamp.
So what's changing? For starters, the guaranteed work days go up to 125 per household - that's a bump from 100, which sounds good on paper. Wages will be paid weekly now, instead of waiting around. And if there's a delay beyond 15 days, workers get a small compensation - 0.05% per day on the unpaid amount.

There's this new twist too: states can declare a 60-day no-work period each year, timed around peak farming seasons like sowing or harvesting. The idea is to make sure laborers aren't pulled away from fields when they're needed most. Different areas can have different windows based on local crops.

Money-wise, it's a big shift. MNREGA was fully funded by the Centre, but now it's a shared thing - Centre pays 60%, states cough up 40%. For hilly and northeastern states, it's 90-10, and some UTs get full central funding. States still handle unemployment allowances if work isn't provided, and any extra spending beyond what the Centre allocates falls on them.
On the ground, panchayats will still play a role in planning, but there's more top-down control with new national and state steering committees deciding allocations based on set formulas. During disasters like floods, states can get relaxations for more work or higher pay.

Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan pushed it hard, calling it a modern upgrade fitting the Viksit Bharat dream. Opposition wasn't buying it though - they walked out in parts, accusing the government of diluting a key safety net for the rural poor.

With elections not too far, this one's going to stir debates in villages for sure. Implementation details are expected soon, and everyone's watching how the switch from MNREGA happens without hiccups in ongoing projects.