Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, announced that the state cabinet has formally approved the draft framework of the VB-G Ram Ji Yojana, Chhattisgarh, a rural livelihood and self-reliance scheme set to take effect from 1 July 2026. The announcement was made in a post addressed to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, crediting his guidance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for the initiative.

Context

Posting in Hindi on 24 June 2026, Chief Minister Sai wrote that the scheme would prove to be 'ek aitihasik pahal' (a historic initiative) in the direction of rural livelihoods, employment, and self-reliant villages. He noted that the cabinet meeting held the previous day had granted approval to the scheme's draft, and that awareness drives through jan bhagidari (public participation), training camps, and gram sabhas are already underway across the state's rural belts.

The scheme's name — VB-G Ram Ji Yojana — draws on the 'Viksit Bharat' (Developed India) framework championed by the central government, signalling a deliberate alignment between state-level implementation and the national Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.

Policy Backdrop

The VB-G Ram Ji Yojana builds on the policy lineage of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), launched in 2011, which sought to organise rural poor households into self-help groups (SHGs) for sustainable income generation. Chhattisgarh, with a large tribal and agrarian population, has consistently ranked among the priority states for rural livelihood interventions under central missions.

Since 2014, BJP-governed states have increasingly branded new welfare schemes within the Viksit Bharat architecture, emphasising employment generation, gram sabha participation, and community ownership. The cabinet approval of the VB-G Ram Ji Yojana fits squarely within this pattern, with the state government positioning itself as an active implementer of the Prime Minister's broader development agenda.

Stakeholders and Impact

The scheme's primary beneficiaries are rural households and village panchayats across Chhattisgarh. Chief Minister Sai indicated that awareness has already been seeded through training camps and gram sabha meetings, suggesting a pre-launch mobilisation effort is in progress. The involvement of gram sabhas points to a community-driven delivery model rather than a purely top-down transfer mechanism.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, has been acknowledged as a guiding figure for the scheme. His current role as Union Agriculture Minister makes his involvement in a rural livelihood scheme structurally significant, potentially indicating coordination between state and central rural development departments.

What's Next

With cabinet approval secured, the focus now shifts to the formal rollout of scheme guidelines ahead of the 1 July 2026 launch date. Coverage metrics from gram sabha training camps and the extent of integration with existing central programmes such as DAY-NRLM will be closely watched by rural development administrators and civil society groups. The scheme's actual reach and beneficiary targets remain to be detailed in the official guidelines. If implementation matches the mobilisation already underway, Chhattisgarh could position the VB-G Ram Ji Yojana as a model for state-level adaptation of the Viksit Bharat framework ahead of the 2047 centenary goal.