Odisha Ensures Seamless Rural Employment with Interim Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards

The Odisha government has decided to introduce Interim Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards (GRGCs) to ensure that eligible rural households continue receiving employment without interruption while permanent cards are being finalised under the new rural employment framework.

The Panchayati Raj and Drinking  Water Department has instructed district and block-level authorities to issue the interim cards immediately so that administrative delays do not prevent beneficiaries from accessing work. The temporary arrangement has been made because the final design and format of the Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Card are still under consideration by the Union Ministry of Rural Development. 

The move comes in the wake of the nationwide rollout of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025, which took effect on July 1, 2026, replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The legislation increases the statutory employment guarantee for eligible rural households from 100 days to 125 days each financial year while placing greater emphasis on sustainable rural infrastructure and livelihood creation. 

According to the department’s directive, the interim cards will remain valid until the Ministry of Rural Development approves and supplies the standardised GRGC format. Officials have been told that no eligible household should be deprived of employment merely because the permanent cards have not yet been issued. 

The instructions also require field-level authorities to continue processing applications and facilitating employment under the new legal framework without waiting for the final cards. This transitional mechanism is intended to ensure uninterrupted implementation of the employment guarantee programme during the changeover from MGNREGA to the VB-G RAM G system. 

The Centre had earlier assured states that the transition to the new law would be seamless. It stated that existing verified MGNREGA job cards would remain valid until Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards are issued and that workers should not be denied employment because of pending documentation or procedural formalities. States were also asked to continue facilitating registration and e-KYC at the grassroots level during the transition period. 

In Odisha, the state government has now adopted the interim GRGC mechanism to operationalise those transitional provisions and prevent disruptions in wage employment. The initiative is expected to bridge the gap until the Union government finalises the permanent card format for implementation across the country.