West Bengal Rolls Out 125-Day Job Scheme After Four-Year Gap

The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), a 125-day job guarantee scheme, was launched in West Bengal on Wednesday (July 1, 2026). The scheme marks the resumption of a government job guarantee programme in the state after nearly four years. In March 2022, the Union Government had halted funding for the 100-day MGNREGA scheme in West Bengal, citing alleged financial irregularities by the then Trinamool Congress government.

Under the new VB-G RAM G scheme, the West Bengal Budget for 2026-27 allocated ₹14,000 crore for employment generation. The expenditure will be shared between the Centre and the State in a 60:40 ratio. The Union Government has released ₹8,508 crore, while the state has contributed ₹5,672 crore. Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh stated that funding would not be a constraint and that the Centre had assured the release of pending MGNREGS dues after verification.

Minister Ghosh also highlighted administrative challenges: approximately 2,000 panchayats are currently non-functional, largely because they were previously administered by the Trinamool Congress and have become defunct after the change in regime. This poses hurdles to the effective implementation of the scheme.

However, the Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), a union of agricultural workers, has expressed concerns that the allocated funds are insufficient. According to the union, with 75.97 lakh active job cards in West Bengal and an average cost of ₹313.30 per person-day, the available funds would generate only about 60 days of work per card. To provide the legally guaranteed 125 days, the total requirement is estimated at ₹29,752 crore—more than double the present allocation.

In a letter to State Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, the PBKMS further noted that under the VB-G RAM G Act, Section 22(8), unemployment allowance and delayed compensation are the responsibility of the State Government. The union urged the state to make separate budgetary provisions for these statutory entitlements, warning that workers should not suffer due to administrative delays or failure to provide work.

In a related development, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced on Wednesday that the first tranche of funds under the Annapurna Yojana—a financial assistance scheme for women—was transferred to nearly 1.1 crore beneficiaries. He stated that 1.6 crore applications were received, and 26 lakh were rejected due to doubts over citizenship and domicile status. The Annapurna Yojana, introduced by the current BJP government, provides a monthly allowance of ₹3,000 to eligible women, replacing the previous Lakshmir Bhandar programme of the Trinamool Congress regime.