Nagaland receives one of India's highest rural wage hikes under the VB-GRAMG Act, with daily wages rising nearly 24.5%
KOHIMA — Rural workers in Nagaland will receive one of the country's highest wage hikes under the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-GRAMG) Act, 2025, with daily wages increasing by nearly 24.5% from July 1 following the Centre's notification of revised wage rates.
The Ministry of Rural Development on Tuesday notified the revised wage rates payable under the new Act. The VB-GRAMG Act, 2025, replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) Act, 2005, introducing a new statutory framework aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
The ministry stated that wage rates have been increased across all 34 states, Union territories and wage regions. In addition, 21 states, UTs and administrative units have been brought up to the new interim base wage of INR 300 per day.
The national average notified wage has increased from INR 298.8 per day under MGNREGA to INR 327.4 per day under the VB-GRAMG Act, representing an average increase of INR 28.6 per day. The average percentage increase across the country exceeds 10%, the ministry added.
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Prior to the notification, wage rates in several states were below INR 300, with the lowest notified wage being INR 241 per day. Under the revised notification, every such state has been brought up to the new benchmark, significantly improving income security for rural workers while narrowing long-standing regional wage disparities.
Workers in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland will receive the highest percentage increase of nearly 24.5%, while substantial increases have also been notified for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and several other states.
States that already had wage rates above the interim base wage have also received revisions based on the prescribed methodology.
Following the notification, the daily wage rate for unskilled manual workers in Nagaland has been revised to INR 300. Among other states, Haryana (INR 409), Goa (INR 406), Kerala (INR 401) and Sikkim's high-altitude Gram Panchayats (INR 450) now have notified wage rates exceeding INR 400 per day, compared to only one wage region under the previous wage structure.
The revised wage notification provides for 125 days of guaranteed wage employment to every eligible rural household.
Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh had the lowest notified wage rates for unskilled manual workers under the MGNREGA Act, 2005, at INR 234 per day in April 2024.
The wage rate was revised to INR 241 for FY 2025-26.
According to the state Rural Development department, employment has been provided to 2.67 lakh households, covering 2.76 lakh individuals, under MGNREGA.
During FY 2025-26, women accounted for 48.97% of the total person-days generated.