New Delhi, July 1 -- The start of July marks India's shift to a new rural employment guarantee programme. In force now is the recently legislated Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G, which replaces a two-decade-old scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of 2005.

Among the changes, the new law offers a member of every household 125 days of paid work every year, up from 100 earlier. This increase made news when it was enacted, even as advocates of change hailed the rejigged scheme's emphasis on using labour for useful public projects instead of just wage payouts.

Critics, however, detected a weakening in its fine-print of the job promise that has long a...