The 125-day guarantee, unemployment allowance and how to complain
Last checked: 10 November 2026
The VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 guarantees at least 125 days of work in each financial year (April to March) to every rural household whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work (section 5). MGNREGA guaranteed 100. The guarantee is per household, not per member.
Asking for work
- Any adult named on the GRG card (or on an e-KYC’d old job card) can apply.
- Apply orally or in writing to the ward member, gram panchayat, programme officer or anyone the state authorises, or through digital platforms. The Ministry says written applications use the same Form 6 as before.
- Every application must be registered and you must get a dated receipt. Keep it: it is your proof for the allowance and for complaints.
- Applications are normally for at least six days of continuous work. You can apply alone or as a group, and in advance.
When and where work is given
- Within 15 days of the application.
- As far as possible within 5 km of the village. Work further away (but inside the block) pays 10% extra for travel and living costs.
- At least one-third of those given work should be women.
- Farm-season pause: each state notifies in advance up to 60 days a year in sowing and harvest seasons when no scheme works run (section 6). MGNREGA had no such rule.
Unemployment allowance
If work is not given within 15 days, you are entitled to a daily unemployment allowance (section 11).
| Period (in the financial year) | At least | At ₹300/day |
|---|---|---|
| First 30 days | a quarter of the wage rate | ₹75 a day |
| After that | half the wage rate | ₹150 a day |
- The state notifies the actual rate; the figures above are the legal minimum.
- The allowance must be paid within 15 days of falling due.
- It stops when the panchayat or programme officer directs you to report for work, when the period you asked for ends and nobody turned up, or when the household has had 125 days of work (or equivalent earnings) in the year.
Your rights at the worksite
- Safe drinking water, shade for children and rest periods, and a first-aid box.
- If five or more children under five come with women workers, one woman is deputed to look after them and paid the wage rate.
- Free medical treatment for injuries at work. If hospitalised: treatment, medicines and a daily allowance of at least half the wage rate.
- Equal pay for women and men.
- Attendance is by face authentication, with an exception process for network or device problems (PIB question 23).
How to complain
Under section 25 you can complain about: not getting work within 15 days, unpaid or late wages, unpaid unemployment allowance, missing worksite facilities, and discrimination or harassment.
- Where: at the ward, gram panchayat, block or district level. Officials must be available to take complaints on at least one fixed day each week. Complaints can be oral, written, by phone or online.
- Acknowledgement: you must get a dated acknowledgement.
- Deadlines: enquiry within 7 working days, resolution within 15 days. Disputes about the gram panchayat go to the block programme officer (at least BDO rank), who must dispose of them in 7 days.
- Automatic escalation: anything unresolved after 15 days moves to the next level through the MIS.
- Appeals: gram panchayat → programme officer → district programme coordinator (the Collector) → state grievance redressal authority. File within 45 days of the order; appeals must be decided within 30 days.
- Ombudsperson: each district gets an Ombudsperson, appointed by the state, who can take complaints and hold enquiries.
We found no official national helpline number for the scheme, so we do not give one. Ask your block office for its complaint day and process.