Nagaland gets 24.5% wage hike under new VB-G RAM G

Rural households entitled to 125 days’ employment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 1 

Rural workers in Nagaland will receive a wage increase of nearly 24.5 per cent, the highest in the country, under the revised wage rates notified by the Centre for the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, which came into force nationwide on Wednesday.

The VB-G RAM G Act replaces the MGNREGA framework and raises the employment guarantee from 100 to 125 days per eligible rural household, besides notifying higher wages across all 34 states, UTs and wage regions.

Nagaland shares the top slot with Arunachal Pradesh, both states recording the steepest percentage rise among all states and Union Territories under the new wage structure, according to a PIB report.

The Rural Development Ministry said the revision brings Nagaland’s wage rate up to the newly introduced interim base wage of Rs 300 per day, part of a nationwide floor benefiting 21 states and Union Territories that had rates below this threshold. The lowest wage in the country prior to the revision was Rs 241 per day.

Union Minister for Rural Development and Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Along with expanding the employment guarantee to 125 days, we have ensured better wages for rural workers. The largest increase has been provided to States where wages were historically lower, so that those who need the greatest support benefit the most.”

The revised wage notification provides for an increase in wage rates across all States, Union Territories and wage regions, making it one of the most significant wage revisions under the national rural employment programme. 

The national average notified wage has risen from Rs 298.8 per day under MGNREGA to Rs 327.4 per day under the new Act, an average increase of Rs 28.6 per day, or over 10 per cent.

Besides Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, sizeable increases have also been notified for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

States that already had wages above the interim base also saw upward revisions. Haryana (Rs 409), Goa (Rs 406), Kerala (Rs 401) and Sikkim’s high-altitude gram panchayats (Rs 450) now have notified wages exceeding Rs 400 per day, up from just one such wage region earlier.