Bengal ranks last on the new 125-day rural jobs scheme; Suvendu to review BDOs on 4 November

West Bengal is at the bottom of the national table on the new 125-day rural employment scheme, having generated only about 50 lakh person-days of work this financial year against a target of 30 crore, Bartaman reported on Sunday. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari will hold a virtual meeting with block development officers (BDOs) on Wednesday, 4 November, to push for faster progress.

The figure means the state has reached less than 2 per cent of its annual target with five months of the financial year left. The report did not say which data it relied on or give a date for the figure, and the official scheme dashboard could not be opened by The Declaration on Sunday, so the numbers should be treated as provisional.

The review meeting

The meeting will begin at 11 am from the Panchayat Bhawan in Bidhannagar, according to administrative officials quoted by Bartaman. Panchayat Minister Dilip Ghosh, Minister of State Santanu Pramanik and senior officials of the state and panchayat departments are expected to attend.

The state is also drawing up a standard operating procedure for new works under the scheme, Bartaman reported. Projects being considered include maintenance of rural health centres, construction of model panchayat offices and digging of ponds.

What the scheme is

The Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), known as VB-G RAM G, replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Parliament passed it in December 2025, according to PRS Legislative Research. It raises the annual guarantee of wage work for a rural household from 100 to 125 days.

Unlike MGNREGA, under which the Centre paid the full wage bill, the new scheme is shared 60:40 between the Centre and most states, with the Centre setting a normative allocation for each state and states bearing any spending above it. States must also announce in advance a pause of up to 60 days a year during peak sowing and harvesting, when no work is offered.

Bengal launched the scheme on 1 July 2026, covering about 2.56 crore job-card holders, The News Mill reported, citing ANI. The Centre approved a contribution of Rs 8,508 crore and the state allocated Rs 5,672 crore. Wages are paid directly into workers' accounts, and work must be provided within 15 days of a demand or an unemployment allowance becomes payable.

Background

Rural job work in Bengal had already shrunk sharply before the switch. Central funds for MGNREGA in the state were stopped from March 2022 after the Centre cited irregularities, a dispute that ran for years between the previous Trinamool Congress government and the Union government.

Nationally, the new scheme had a slow start. Official dashboard data showed 7.67 crore person-days in July 2026, its first month, about half the 15.33 crore recorded in July 2025, Outlook reported in August. The Ministry of Rural Development disputed that, saying around 9 crore person-days had been generated during the transition month, and pointed to a budget estimate of Rs 95,692 crore for 2026-27.

What happens next

Wednesday's meeting is expected to set block-level targets for new works. Because the Centre's share is capped at the state's normative allocation, how quickly Bengal can create work in the remaining months will also decide how much central money it draws this year.