Why in the News
Adivasi households holding Forest Rights Act (FRA) titles were guaranteed 150 days of work a year under the old rural jobs law, but the new law gives them the same 125 days as every other household. The Union Ministry of Rural Development has confirmed that no order restoring the extra days has been issued since the new law was rolled out on July 1.
What was the extra 50 days of work?
- What it is: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) promised every rural household 100 days of paid manual work a year. FRA title holders got 50 more days, like a reserved top up quota.
- Who qualified: Households holding titles under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, mostly Adivasi families.
- How it began: Extra guaranteed days came first for drought prone areas in 2012. FRA title holders got them only from January 2014, after years of deliberation within the United Progressive Alliance government.
- The takeaway: An entitlement that took years to win now depends on a fresh order under the new law.
What does the new law provide?
- New guarantee: The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 (VB-G RAM G) guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household in a financial year.
- No separate tier: The Act has no category for FRA title holders. They get 125 days like every other household, not 175 days.
- Discretionary top up: Section 5(4) lets the Centre or a State give work beyond the guarantee within its economic capacity. The provision is discretionary and names no specific group.
- Calamity relaxation: Section 7 lets the Centre, on a State’s recommendation, relax norms during natural calamities, including enhanced wage employment.
What has the government said?
- RTI reply: On October 6, answering a Right to Information (RTI) application from the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, the Ministry said “no separate order, circular or guideline” on this extra work exists.
- Promised notification: The stated expectation is that a notification approving the extra 50 days will be issued shortly.
- Time still left: The argument offered is that, with six months of the financial year left, households can take the extra days after completing 125.
How well was the extra entitlement used?
- Low uptake: Ministry data for 2025-26 show only 15% of households eligible for the extra days actually got them under MGNREGA.
- Odisha, the largest base: Odisha had the most registered households, about 3.72 lakh, but only about 72,000 of them used the extra days.
- Andhra Pradesh, the only good performer: Andhra Pradesh was the one State that performed well, with about 36,000 of its 1.71 lakh registered households using the extra days.
- Six State concentration: Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura and Maharashtra hold 12.9 lakh of the registered households.
Challenges
- Entitlement by discretion: Section 5(4) makes extra work optional, so it depends on each government’s budget and priorities.
- Higher State share: The new Act shifts part of the wage bill onto States, which weakens their incentive to offer extra days.
- Policy limbo: Without a notification, field officials have no legal basis to offer work beyond 125 days.
Way Forward
- Notify the tier: The Ministry of Rural Development should notify the extra 50 days for FRA title holders under the Act.
- Central funding for the top up: The Centre should fully fund the extra days so States are not deterred.
- Link title records: States should link FRA title records with job card data so eligible households are flagged automatically.
Conclusion
A guarantee that once reached forest households in full now rests on a promised notification and a discretionary clause. Watch whether the notification arrives before the financial year ends, and whether States actually offer the extra days.
Key numbers
- Households eligible for 150 days, 2025-26: 14 lakh (Ministry of Rural Development data).
- Chhattisgarh: 3,20,651 registered; 36,716 availed.
- Madhya Pradesh: 2,21,674 registered; 29,065 availed.
- Tripura: 1,08,532 registered; 22,251 availed.
- Maharashtra: 96,559 registered; 8,063 availed.
Back2Basics: Forest Rights Act, 2006
- Purpose and ministry: It recognises the pre-existing rights of forest dwelling communities, and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal ministry.
- Eligibility: Forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes, and other traditional forest dwellers with three generations of dependence before 13 December 2005.
- Claims process: Gram sabhas initiate and verify claims; sub-division and district level committees issue titles.
Matching Previous Year Question
“[2026] Which of the following statements with respect to the Revamped RGSA is/are correct? 1. Period of implementation: 1st April, 2021 to 31st March, 2026. 2. Key objective: develop governance capabilities of PRIs to deliver on SDGs. 3. The share of Central funding is 100% for all States and Union Territories. (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 only (c) 1 and 3 (d) 2 and 3 ANSWER: B”
