Rural Welfare Schemes Reviewed Amid Global Supply Risks

The Ministry of Rural Development has reviewed preparedness across major rural welfare and infrastructure programmes to ensure uninterrupted implementation amid possible spillovers from the evolving situation in West Asia. The focus is on protecting rural livelihoods, housing delivery, road works and watershed activities from supply chain disruption, commodity price volatility and inflationary pressure. The Ministry has also prioritised timely fund flow and continuity of benefits under ongoing schemes.

MGNREGA Wage Support

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 continues to operate without interruption until the proposed VB–G RAM G Act, 2025 comes into force. Rural households remain entitled to demand-based wage employment and timely wage payments.

• Existing Central Government-notified wage rates remain applicable.
• Around ₹17,744 crore is being released as the first instalment for the wage component.
• The proposed new law is expected to provide 125 days of wage employment.
• Revised wage rates will be notified separately after commencement.

Rural Housing Preparedness

Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin is being implemented to construct 4.95 crore houses by March 2029. The Ministry is using advance measures to reduce the impact of possible material shortages and price fluctuations.

• Direct Benefit Transfer releases are being prioritised.
• AwaasSoft is being used for real-time monitoring.
• Geo-tagging is being used to track progress.
• Completion of ongoing houses is being accelerated.
• Convergence support is being ensured for sanitation, drinking water, LPG and electricity.
• Material banks are being promoted to improve resilience.

Roads and Watershed Works

Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, sanctioned works under PMGSY-I, II, III and Left Wing Extremism-affected area projects are already tendered or under execution. Under PMGSY-IV, about 12,100 km of road works have been sanctioned and are at the tendering stage. Bitumen forms a small part of total project cost, limiting immediate exposure to global price shocks. The Department of Land Resources is implementing WDC-PMKSY 2.0 across 50 lakh hectares to strengthen water conservation, agriculture intensification, horticulture and pasture development. Coordination with the Agriculture Ministry and other stakeholders is being maintained to ensure smooth implementation.