Centre Sets ₹300 Wage Floor, 125-Day Job Guarantee under New Rural Scheme

Workers under India's rural employment guarantee programme will now earn a minimum of ₹300 per day, under revised wage rates notified by the Union government. The new rates take effect from July 1, 2026, alongside the rollout of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, which replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Wages have gone up in all 34 states, union territories and wage regions covered by the scheme. The average notified wage nationally now stands at ₹327.4 per day, up from ₹298.8 earlier, a jump of ₹28.6 per day, or over 10%.

The new law also extends the annual employment guarantee for eligible rural households from 100 days to 125 days. The government has linked this expansion to its broader Viksit Bharat 2047 goals. The scheme will be formally launched in Andhra Pradesh on July 2.

Previously, the lowest notified wage under the programme was ₹241 per day. That floor has now been raised to ₹300, meaning no state or region can notify a wage below this level. The government said 21 states, union territories and administrative units will see a direct benefit from this new minimum.

The steepest hikes have gone to states that previously had the lowest rural wages. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh will see increases of 15% to 25%. Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland top the list with a rise of nearly 24.5%.

States that already had higher wages have not been left out. Haryana will offer the highest notified wage in the country at ₹409 per day, ahead of Goa at ₹406 and Kerala at ₹401. In Sikkim's high-altitude gram panchayats, the wage has been set even higher, at ₹450 per day.

Union Rural Development and Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the revision is meant to strengthen rural livelihoods and narrow the gap between wage levels across states. He said states with historically lower wages were given larger increases as a matter of priority, alongside the extension of guaranteed employment from 100 to 125 days.

The notification states that the new wages were calculated using a mix of annual indexation and the newly introduced wage floor. According to the government, this approach is meant to make the wage-fixing process more transparent and equitable, while offering workers greater income security.

Funding and Transition

The wage increase is part of the wider implementation of the VB-G RAM G Act, under which rural households can now claim up to 125 days of guaranteed employment each year. The government has said it expects the higher wages, combined with more days of work, to raise rural incomes and support broader economic growth in rural areas.

To support the rollout, the Centre has released an interim allocation of ₹95,692.31 crore to states and union territories. This is intended to keep implementation running smoothly and ensure wages are paid on time from the very first day of the new Act.

As of now, 29 states and union territories have made budgetary provisions for the scheme, and 24 have already notified their own state-level versions of the VB-G RAM G scheme. The government said existing job cards verified through e-KYC will continue to remain valid until new Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards are issued, so that workers do not face any disruption in accessing employment or receiving wages.