Centre allocates ₹95,692 crore to states ahead of VB-G RAM G rollout from July 1

The Centre on Tuesday announced an interim allocation of ₹95,692 crore to states and Union Territories for rural employment and development works ahead of the rollout of 'Viksit Bharat GRAMG' from July 1.

Chairing a virtual meeting of state rural development ministers, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the transition to the new framework under VB-GRAMG must be seamless and worker-centric, and without any disruption in employment generation or wage payments.

He said that "not a single worker should remain without work even for a day" and stressed that no disruption in employment generation, wage payments or statutory rights would be acceptable.

The Centre had already allocated ₹30,000 crore under the existing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and released an interim allocation of ₹95,692 crore on Tuesday.

With this, the total allocation for rural employment and development will exceed ₹1.25 lakh crore.

According to the ministry, the funds will reach nearly 2.8 lakh gram panchayats across the country.

Chouhan urged states to accord advance approvals to an adequate number of projects so that implementation can begin immediately from July 1.

He said the Centre was focussed not only on providing funds but also on ensuring timely wage payments, protection of workers' rights and uninterrupted execution of development works.

He said 26 states had already made budgetary provisions in line with the objectives of "Viksit Bharat-Gramin Bharat", while Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana and Mizoram had been urged to complete the process at the earliest.

Chouhan said he would personally write to the chief ministers of the four states to expedite the exercise.

The minister also directed states to issue notifications for implementation of the new framework, noting that Mizoram, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh had already done so.

He said works would be identified through gram panchayats and gram sabhas and finalised on the basis of local proposals.

Chouhan also directed officials to ensure that there was no reduction in employment generation or delay in wage payments under MGNREGA before the July 1 transition.

Uttar Pradesh received the highest interim allocation of ₹12,221.48 crore, followed by West Bengal at ₹8,508 crore, Tamil Nadu at ₹7,957.57 crore, Andhra Pradesh at ₹7,707.21 crore and Rajasthan at ₹7,581.87 crore.

The total allocation for states stood at ₹92,550.17 crore, while Union Territories were allocated ₹1,291.32 crore.