The central government has renamed India’s biggest rural employment scheme after the Cabinet approves the proposal to change the name of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to Pujya Bapu Gramin Rojgar Yojna (PBGRY). Along with the name change, the Cabinet sanctioned Rs 1.51 lakh crore to the employment scheme.

It has been reported that government officials have said that although there will be a change in the name, there will be no change in what they are set out to achieve. Accordingly, the employment opportunities are provided to rural households who are ready to do unskilled manual labour. The minimum guaranteed employment has increased from 100 days to 125 days, and the minimum wage has been revised to Rs 240 per day. The renaming is believed to be an effort on behalf of the government to make it more associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies.

MGNREGA has been a very important intervention for rural households ever since it became operational in 2005. Giving it a new name, PBGRY, would perhaps impart a new and refreshed image to it with similar basic objectives.

A senior official familiar with the development said the new name “aims to honour Mahatma Gandhi’s contribution and reinforce the values the scheme stands for.” The official added that the scheme’s legal guarantees and structure would remain unchanged. The government is also set to allocate ₹1.51 lakh crore for this scheme in the budget session. Given the demand for employment opportunities in rural India, the government is allocating more funds and helping with the timely payment of wages, as well as helping with the generation of permanent assets like water conservation structures, waterways, and rural roadways.

Despite the change in its name, PBGRY will still offer guaranteed job opportunities for rural households. The program currently helps offer job opportunities in land development, drought control, and environmental protection. It still rates among the most widely adopted social welfare programs, particularly during the off-peak season and times of economic stress.

The government is slated to enlist specific guidelines for implementation once it gets approval from the Cabinet. Pujya Bapu Gramin Rojgar Yojna will be adopted government-wide. Ministries and state administrations will soon start making changes to work sites and job cards, as well as government signboards, as part of the rollout for PBGRY. The increased fund allocations highlight that rural empowerment and employment generation remain important agendas for the government.