Can changing the name of a law really solve rural unemployment issues? India’s rural job scheme began in 2005 as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). It promised at least 100 days of paid work each year to rural families willing to do manual labour. In 2009, it was renamed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Despite its good goals, the scheme has not reached its full potential.
The aim of the law was to reduce rural poverty, help poor families earn wages, and create useful public assets like roads and ponds. But has it? On average, most families received only about 50 days of work in a year instead of 100. This signals poor planning and weak implementation on the ground.
On December 12, 2025, the government renamed the scheme again as the Pujya Bapu Rural Employment Guarantee Act (PBREGA) and increased the work limit from 100 to 125 days. However, this change is mostly on paper. Government software still treats 100 days as the maximum limit unless special permission is given. Because of this, the real number of working days has not increased.
The budgetary allocation for the scheme by the central government of Rs. 1.51 lakh crore which translates to 3% of the total government expenditure.
The law says families should get ‘at least’ 100 days of work, but over time this has become the maximum. Only a few special groups are allowed more days of work. Additional employment—up to 150 days—is permitted in special cases, such as for certain Scheduled Tribe households in forest areas; these exceptions remain narrowly defined.
Can changing the name and increasing the number of days on paper solve the real problem on the ground? The scheme looks strong on paper, but unless it’s backed with strong financial muscle, it’s unlikely to change ground reality.