New Delhi. The Union government is likely to introduce a Bill in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament to amend the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), proposing a change in the name of the flagship rural employment scheme to “Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Yojana.”
According to senior government functionaries, the amended Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet at its meeting held on Friday, December 12, 2025. However, no official announcement regarding the proposal was made during the Cabinet briefing addressed by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The original legislation, passed by Parliament on August 25, 2005, was titled the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). The prefix “Mahatma Gandhi” was added to the scheme’s name in 2009.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan said that the average number of employment days provided per household under the scheme over the past five years stood at 50.35 days. He also described the programme as a “fallback option when no better employment opportunity is available.”
In 2022, the Centre had constituted a review panel headed by former Union Rural Development Secretary Amarjeet Sinha to examine the implementation of the scheme. The panel studied inter-State variations, particularly the relatively lower expenditure in poorer States such as Bihar, compared to economically better-performing States like Tamil Nadu.
Sources said the proposed amendments are likely to incorporate the panel’s recommendations, including the introduction of exclusionary clauses based on State-level economic indices. The government is also considering changes to the funding pattern of the scheme. Currently, the Centre bears 100% of the wage component.
Additionally, the amended legislation may introduce stricter compliance mechanisms to prevent prolonged disputes between the Centre and States. One such case was West Bengal, where the Centre stopped the release of MGNREGS funds in March 2022, citing continued non-compliance with Union government directives.
Following an order by the Calcutta High Court, the Centre on December 6, 2025, issued instructions for the resumption of the scheme in West Bengal, subject to mandatory compliance with special conditions.
If tabled and passed, the proposed amendments would mark one of the most significant changes to India’s rural employment guarantee programme since its inception.