Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches nationwide 'Viksit Bharat

Honorable Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan has inaugurated the nationwide initiative from Mukkavaripalli village in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Along with him Honorable Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan were also present at the inauguration event. This new mission promises the longer employment, better wages, stronger legal protection for the workers.

What Is the Viksit Bharat G RAM G Act?

The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) is the statutory rural employment program which is designed to strengthen employment generation and livelihood security in the villages.

Under the new law,

Every eligible rural household will receive the legal guarantee of 125 days of wage employment every financial year.
Employment will be provided to adults who are willing to perform the unskilled manual work.
Also the workers will continue to receive the unemployment allowance if jobs are not provided within the prescribed time.

This is an increase from the previous 100 day employment guarantee under the old MGNREGA framework

Massive Financial Commitment for Rural Development

The Viksit Bharat G-Ram G Yojana is backed by the one of the largest commitments ever made for the rural employment.

During the first year the Central Government will contribute more than ₹95,000 crore with the combined expenditure including the states share and it will reach to approximately ₹1.51 lakh crore.

Over the next period of years, the government aims to spend nearly ₹7.5 lakh crore under the scheme. The investment will benefits around 2.86 lakh Gram Panchayats and it providing the each panchayat with an average annual allocation of over ₹2 crore for the employment generation and infrastructure development.

Gram Sabhas to Lead Village Development

Unlike the centrally driven planning, this new scheme gives the greater decision-making powers to Gram Sabhas and Gram Panchayats.

Local communities will decide the which development works should be prioritised based on their needs and it may includes the village roads, farm roads, irrigation structures, Anganwadi centres, schools, hospitals, ponds, check dams and Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) infrastructure.

This decentralised approach aims to make the development more responsive to local priorities while increasing the public participation in governance.

Andhra Receives Major Development Package

At the launch event, Andhra Pradesh will receive the special allocation of ₹7,707 crore under the new rural employment mission over the period of next nine months.

Additionally the centre has also approved the 74,212 new houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).

To improve rural connectivity around 146 new roads and 19 bridges worth more than ₹422 crore were sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY-IV).

Vision for the Rural Prosperity

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has described the Viksit Bharat G-Ram G Yojana as the transformative initiative which is capable of improving rural livelihoods and village infrastructure.

He also highlighted the plans to develop Rayalaseema into a major horticulture hub through the investments worth nearly to ₹1 lakh crore and it includes irrigation projects, road connectivity, storage infrastructure, and private-sector participation.

He also emphasised on the digital governance and Gram Sabha-led planning as the key pillars of effective implementation.