Rationale for new framework
1. Socio-economic changes.
2. MGNREGA was built in 2005, but rural India has transformed. Poverty levels declined from 27.1% in 2011-12 to 5.3% in 2022-23, supported by rising consumption, improved financial access, and expanded welfare coverage.
3. Rural livelihoods becoming more diversified and digitally integrated, the open-ended and demand-driven design of MGNREGA no longer aligns fully with contemporary rural realities.
4. The Viksit Bharat- G RAM G Act, 2025 responds to this context by modernising rural employment guarantees, strengthening accountability, and aligning employment creation with long term infrastructure and climate resilience goals.
5. Planning is decentralised through Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans, which are prepared locally and spatially integrated with national systems such as PM Gati Shakti.
6. The shift from a central sector scheme to a centrally sponsored framework reflects the inherently local nature of rural employment and asset creation.
1. Socio-economic changes.
2. MGNREGA was built in 2005, but rural India has transformed. Poverty levels declined from 27.1% in 2011-12 to 5.3% in 2022-23, supported by rising consumption, improved financial access, and expanded welfare coverage.
3. Rural livelihoods becoming more diversified and digitally integrated, the open-ended and demand-driven design of MGNREGA no longer aligns fully with contemporary rural realities.
4. The Viksit Bharat- G RAM G Act, 2025 responds to this context by modernising rural employment guarantees, strengthening accountability, and aligning employment creation with long term infrastructure and climate resilience goals.
5. Planning is decentralised through Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans, which are prepared locally and spatially integrated with national systems such as PM Gati Shakti.
6. The shift from a central sector scheme to a centrally sponsored framework reflects the inherently local nature of rural employment and asset creation.
#GS2
1. Central sector —> centrally sponsored scheme
2. Normative funding pattern : Allocation of fund made by centre to states
3. Changed approach : 4 core infrastructure areas : Water security, climate resilience , core rural infrastructure, infrastructure for livelihood creation
4. Challenges : shifting burden on states. Earlier centre used to bear the entire cost of unskilled wage but now state cost sharing for wages : 60:40.
5. Challenge in MGNREGA : Demand based fund : it led to shooting up of the budget for the scheme.
6. State governments must on board YuktDhara geospatial planning portal that the centre wants to use for preparing the Gram Panchayat Plan which will function like a master schedule of all works planned for the year.
7. The legislation requires all the gram contacts be categorised as A , B or C based on the developmental parameters. The act cites only one example proximity to urban areas of what these developmental parameters could entail.
1. Central sector —> centrally sponsored scheme
2. Normative funding pattern : Allocation of fund made by centre to states
3. Changed approach : 4 core infrastructure areas : Water security, climate resilience , core rural infrastructure, infrastructure for livelihood creation
4. Challenges : shifting burden on states. Earlier centre used to bear the entire cost of unskilled wage but now state cost sharing for wages : 60:40.
5. Challenge in MGNREGA : Demand based fund : it led to shooting up of the budget for the scheme.
6. State governments must on board YuktDhara geospatial planning portal that the centre wants to use for preparing the Gram Panchayat Plan which will function like a master schedule of all works planned for the year.
7. The legislation requires all the gram contacts be categorised as A , B or C based on the developmental parameters. The act cites only one example proximity to urban areas of what these developmental parameters could entail.
Migrants in the gulf
Changing nature of migration
--> Post-Covid, there has been a spurt in high-net-worth Indians set-ting up business in the UAE, a tax haven.
--> While the early migrants were labourers and professionals employed in infrastruc-ture projects - largely from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh - there are many Indians employed in IT and engin eering sectors or running businesses now.
Changing nature of migration
--> Post-Covid, there has been a spurt in high-net-worth Indians set-ting up business in the UAE, a tax haven.
--> While the early migrants were labourers and professionals employed in infrastruc-ture projects - largely from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh - there are many Indians employed in IT and engin eering sectors or running businesses now.
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The Union Government plans to roll out Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in schools and higher education institutions from the next academic year.
The initiative aligns with the vision of National Education Policy 2020 to promote technology-enabled learning.
The programme will be led by Bodhan AI, hosted at Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
It will develop the Bharat EduAI Stack, envisioned as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for education.
Interlink :
1. https://t.me/bpscweb/40803
2. https://t.me/bpscweb/41058
#GS1mains
#CA2026
The initiative aligns with the vision of National Education Policy 2020 to promote technology-enabled learning.
The programme will be led by Bodhan AI, hosted at Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
It will develop the Bharat EduAI Stack, envisioned as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for education.
Interlink :
1. https://t.me/bpscweb/40803
2. https://t.me/bpscweb/41058
#GS1mains
#CA2026
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