Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday, 2 July 2026, expressed delight that Tirupati served as the host city for the nationwide rollout of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar & Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), popularly referred to as VB-GRAMG. The launch event was presided over by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who formally inaugurated the mission for implementation across the country.

Context

In his post on X, Chief Minister Naidu described the occasion as one that 'honours the hands that build our nation,' framing the mission as central to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's long-term goal of transforming India into a developed economy by the centenary of independence — the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision. Naidu credited the Prime Minister's leadership as the driving force behind what he called a 'transformative initiative.'

Tirupati, the prominent temple city in Andhra Pradesh, has increasingly served as a venue for national policy events, given its infrastructure and symbolic visibility. The choice of the city for this rollout also underlines the state government's active alignment with centrally sponsored rural development programmes.

Policy Backdrop

VB-GRAMG is designed to expand rural employment, strengthen livelihoods, and create durable village assets — objectives that build directly on the architecture of two landmark earlier interventions. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), enacted in 2005, established a legal right to 100 days of wage employment for rural households. The National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), launched in 2011, sought to organise rural poor into self-help groups and improve sustainable livelihoods.

VB-GRAMG is understood to layer additional guarantees and asset-creation components onto this existing framework, continuing a pattern of successive governments expanding rural employment coverage through complementary missions. The scheme is positioned under the broader Viksit Bharat umbrella, which frames rural welfare as inseparable from national development targets.

Stakeholders and Impact

Rural labourers and village panchayats are the primary stakeholders of the mission. For daily-wage workers and seasonal agricultural labourers, the scheme promises a more structured guarantee of employment and income support beyond what existing programmes currently provide. Panchayats are expected to play a key coordinating role in identifying beneficiaries and overseeing the creation of village-level assets.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who brings experience from multiple rural development programmes during his long tenure as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, led the launch ceremony. His presence signals the central government's intent to give the mission high-level political ownership and visibility from the outset.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to state-level rollout progress reports and the integration guidelines that will govern how VB-GRAMG coordinates with MGNREGA at the ground level. Any supplementary budget provisions in the next Union Budget or parliamentary session will be closely watched as an indicator of the financial commitment behind the mission. For Andhra Pradesh, the Tirupati event marks an early signal of the state's intent to be at the forefront of implementation — a posture consistent with Chief Minister Naidu's broader push to attract central scheme resources to the state.