VB-G RAM G: Grievance rules notified, 15-day redressal deadline

The Ministry of Rural Development has notified grievance-redressal rules for the VB-G RAM G rural employment scheme, requiring complaints to be resolved within 15 days of receipt and unresolved cases to move to the next higher authority. Notification G.S.R. 966(E), dated 2 November 2026 and published in the Gazette of India, brings the rules into force on the same date.

The ministry’s Grievance Redressal Rules, 2026 require state governments to establish complaint-handling arrangements at Gram Panchayat, Block and District levels, connected to a central digital platform. They prohibit officials from refusing to register a complaint because of its format, language, manner of submission or procedural shortcomings.

The rules cover complaints connected with implementation of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), abbreviated as VB-G RAM G. Section 5 of the parent Act, published by the Ministry of Law and Justice, provides a wage-employment guarantee for rural households whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work. That provision applies in rural areas notified by the Central Government and is subject to the Act’s conditions.

Physical complaints must enter the digital system

Under Rule 4 of the ministry’s notification, any person may submit a grievance concerning the scheme’s implementation. Submission is not restricted to an online channel: complaints may be made in person before the designated officer, through speed post with registration and delivery proof, or through the Central Government’s designated digital platform.

The same rule permits complaints by telephone, through designated helplines and by other methods determined by the state government. The notification defines a grievance to include an oral, written or digital complaint or representation.

For complaints received physically at Gram Panchayat, Block or District level, the ministry’s rules place responsibility for digitisation on the grievance-redressal officer. The officer must enter and register the complaint on the platform on the day it is received or, where that is not possible, by the next working day.

Registration must produce an acknowledgement containing the complaint’s registration number, receipt date and the designation of the receiving authority, according to Rule 4. Digital submissions receive electronic acknowledgements, while complaints received physically must receive physical acknowledgements.

The notification therefore requires offline access alongside digital record-keeping. Its protection against rejection for procedural deficiencies applies at the registration stage; the officer must subsequently examine the registered complaint through the prescribed enquiry process.

Seven working days for enquiry, 15 days for resolution

Rule 5 of the ministry’s notification sets distinct requirements for examining a complaint and securing remedial action. It requires enquiry and disposal within seven working days of receipt, followed by recorded findings and any necessary corrective or remedial action, with redressal within 15 days of receipt.

Both periods run from receipt of the complaint. The notification describes the shorter period as working days, but does not apply that qualification to the 15-day resolution deadline. It does not provide an additional 15 days after completion of the enquiry.

The ministry’s rules authorise the grievance-redressal officer to seek and examine records, registers, documents, reports, electronic data and other relevant information held by the authority or official concerned. That authority or official must provide the material within the period specified by the officer.

Before disposal, the complainant must receive a reasonable opportunity to be heard, either in person or electronically, wherever necessary for proper disposal of the grievance, the notification states. This is a qualified hearing provision rather than a requirement for a personal hearing in every case.

Once the enquiry is complete, the officer must record the findings and take, or arrange for, corrective or remedial action consistent with the Act and its rules. Decisions and action taken must be entered on the digital platform and communicated to the complainant.

For a complaint received physically, Rule 5 also requires the outcome and action taken to be communicated in physical form. The digital system must retain the complaint’s status from registration through disposal, together with the enquiry, findings and action records.

States must assign responsibility at each level

Rule 3 makes state governments responsible for establishing the multi-tier mechanism and designating officers to receive, register, investigate and dispose of complaints. States must integrate that mechanism with the digital public infrastructure designated by the Central Government.

The notification uses “digital public infrastructure” to mean an integrated platform directly accessible to citizens for registering complaints and tracking their handling through to disposal. At district level, the District Programme Coordinator must oversee grievance redressal and ensure that complaints are handled through the designated mechanism and platform.

Under Rule 6, a grievance that remains unresolved after 15 days must be forwarded through the digital platform to the next higher level in the state’s mechanism. The receiving authority must examine it and take appropriate action under the rules. Escalated complaints must remain under electronic monitoring until disposal.

This escalation requirement concerns unresolved complaints. The notification separately provides a route for appealing against orders already passed under the mechanism.

Final rules follow the May draft

The ministry’s notification records that draft rules were published through G.S.R. 401(E), dated 22 May 2026. Copies were made available to the public that day, with a 30-day period for objections and suggestions from people likely to be affected.

The Central Government said in the notification that it had considered the objections and suggestions received before issuing the final rules. It made the rules under Section 33 of the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, exercising the rule-making powers cited in the notification.

For challenges to orders, Rule 7 directs that appeals be filed and disposed of under the specified provisions of paragraph 28 of Schedule I to the parent Act. The grievance rules themselves do not set out a separate appeal timetable.