Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Rural development works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), renamed recently as VB-G RAM G, has cut a sorry figure in Assam.
Even as the UPA government launched this scheme, it was the NDA government that laid much emphasis on this scheme since 2014.
Works under VB-G RAM G are for asset and employment generation in rural areas. People obtaining job cards work under this scheme.
According to information available with ‘The Sentinel’, the rate of work completion under VB-G RAM G in the state as of the second week of October 2026, since 2023-24, is only 9.48 per cent. During this period a total of 4,28,367 works started in the state. Only 40,598 of them have been finished. In 2023-24, the state started 28,491 works and completed only 1,501 of them, registering only 5.27 per cent completion of works.
In 2024-25, the state started 47,460 works under VB-G RAM G and completed only 4,763 of them, registering a work completion rate of 10.04 percent. In 2025-26, the state started 1,74,100 works, and completed 26,664 of them. The work completion rate stood at 15.32 percent.
In 2026-27, the state started 1,78,316 works, and completed 7,670 of them as of the second week of October, registering a work completion rate of 4.3 per cent.
Assam has 34.6 lakh active job cards under VB-G RAM G, involving 47.89 lakh active workers. The poor work completion rate in the state speaks volumes about the sorry state of affairs in VB-G RAM G. While gaon panchayats implement works under VB-G RAM G, the Panchayat & Rural Development Department monitors the works.
Ranjeet Kumar Dass did head the department as minister in the last government in the state, and now Atul Bora of the AGP holds this portfolio. The onus of reversing the poor legacy in the implementation of works under VB-G RAM G lies with Bora now.
Also Read: CM Sarma Vows to Accelerate File Disposal at Field-Level Offices for Transparent Governance