The Centre on Tuesday sought to justify the increase in the states’ share of funds under the recently passed VB-G RAM G Act, saying such a model would promote “cooperative federalism”. ADVERTISEMENTThe VB-G RAM G Act provides for a 60:40 ratio of funds sharing. The states now bear about 10 per cent of the expenditure under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the rural job scheme VB-G RAM G replaces. He said several erstwhile rural employment schemes, such as the National Rural Employment Programme, Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme,Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, Sampoorn Grameen Rozgar Yojana and the Employment Assurance Scheme, operated on the shared-funding model. Central funding under the MGNREGA helped neutralise differences in states’fiscal capacities, which is critical for a nationwide employment guarantee,” Buddha said.

Source: The Telegraph February 10, 2026 23:28 UTC