Chennai, 20 Oct (H.S.): The Tamil Nadu government has approved ‘Vetri 150’, a scheme offering 25 additional days of employment to vulnerable rural households that complete their annual entitlement of 125 days under the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G.

The government has accorded administrative sanction for the initiative and financial sanction of ₹100 crore for its implementation during 2026-27. The additional employment will be financed entirely through State funds, extending the annual work entitlement of eligible households to 150 days.

The decision advances an election promise made by the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. Increasing guaranteed rural employment to 150 days featured in the party’s manifesto, and the initiative was announced in the TVK government’s maiden Budget presented on August 5.

According to a Government Order issued by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, the additional work will be available to registered households classified as vulnerable, after they exhaust the 125 days provided under VB-G RAM G.

The eligible categories include households headed by women, single-woman households, households with persons with disabilities, and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households.

Beneficiaries covered under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, have also been included among the vulnerable categories entitled to the additional employment.

Under VB-G RAM G, every registered rural household willing to undertake unskilled manual work is guaranteed 125 days of employment in a financial year. Expenditure under that programme is shared between the Union and State governments in a 60:40 ratio.

‘Vetri 150’ will operate as a State-funded extension for the specified categories. Eligibility for the extra 25 days is linked to completion of the existing entitlement, making exhaustion of the first 125 days a prerequisite for receiving employment under the new initiative.

The sanction establishes both the administrative approval and the initial financial provision for implementing the Budget announcement during the current financial year.

The scheme provides a targeted extension of employment support, with the additional days reserved for the vulnerable household categories listed in the Government Order. For these families, completing the centrally supported programme’s annual entitlement will open access to a further period of paid manual work funded by Tamil Nadu, bringing their total employment entitlement to 150 days annually.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman