VB-G RAM G replaces MGNREGA with a 125-day guarantee
1 July 2026
The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, known as VB-G RAM G, took effect on 1 July 2026, replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005. Draft rules were released for consultation in May 2026 and final rules notified on 1 July. It guarantees up to 125 days of unskilled wage work a year to each rural household, up from 100, and permits a pause of up to 60 days during peak sowing and harvest. Funding for most States is shared 60:40 between the Centre and the State, and allocations are made on a normative formula rather than purely on demand, which several States opposed.
Background. MGNREGA, passed in 2005, gave a legal right to 100 days of work and was largely centrally funded. Article 41, a Directive Principle, asks the State to secure the right to work within its economic capacity.
Why CLAT asks: A statutory right to work against a Directive Principle: know which is enforceable, and how centrally sponsored schemes are funded.
Sources: Deccan Herald: Centre notifies rules for rollout of new employment guarantee scheme; All India Radio News: Government releases draft rules of VB-G RAM G Act for public consultation (23 May 2026)
Census 2027: the first digital census, with caste enumeration
1 April 2026
The first phase of Census 2027, house-listing and housing, runs between 1 April and 30 September 2026, with each State and Union Territory choosing a 30-day window. For the first time, households can enumerate themselves online for 15 days before the field visit. The second phase, population enumeration, is in February 2027, and caste will be enumerated then, the first full caste count since 1931. The reference date is 1 March 2027, and 1 October 2026 for snow-bound areas of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Background. The Census is conducted under the Census Act, 1948 by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, under the Home Ministry. The last census was in 2011; the 2021 census was postponed. Delimitation and the start of women's reservation are tied to the census after 2026.
Why CLAT asks: The census's link to delimitation and women's reservation (Day 1) is exactly the kind of connection CLAT tests.
Sources: PIB: Census 2027 presentation (May 2026); The South First: Centre notifies April-September 2026 window for Census 2027 houselisting
NFHS-6: fertility steady at 2.0, child stunting down
29 May 2026
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released the sixth National Family Health Survey (2023-24) on 29 May 2026, covering about 6.8 lakh households in 715 districts. The total fertility rate stayed at 2.0 (1.6 urban, 2.1 rural), below the replacement level of 2.1. Stunting among children under five fell to about 29% from 35.5% in NFHS-5, and institutional births rose to about 90%. Obesity among women rose to about 31%, and exclusive breastfeeding of infants under six months fell.
Background. The NFHS is conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. Replacement-level fertility is about 2.1 children per woman, the rate at which a population replaces itself.
Why CLAT asks: Replacement fertility and what 'stunting' measures (low height for age) are quick questions.
Sources: Deccan Chronicle: India's fertility rate remains steady at 2.0, child stunting declines; People's Archive of Rural India: NFHS-6 (2023-24) fact sheets
PM E-DRIVE subsidy for electric two-wheelers extended, at half the rate
August 2026
The e-two-wheeler subsidy under the PM E-DRIVE scheme was due to end on 31 July 2026. An August 2026 notification of the Ministry of Heavy Industries extended it, with reports giving end dates of December 2027 or March 2028, raised the e-two-wheeler allocation by ₹1,000 crore, and halved the incentive to ₹2,500 per kWh, capped at ₹5,000 a vehicle, for vehicles priced up to ₹1.5 lakh. The overall outlay rose to ₹11,900 crore.
Background. PM E-DRIVE (Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement) began in October 2024, succeeding the FAME schemes of 2015 and 2019.
Why CLAT asks: Scheme names and the ministries that run them are frequent GK; PM E-DRIVE sits with Heavy Industries, not Transport.
Sources: Autocar Pro: Govt extends PM E-Drive subsidy for e2Ws till FY28, increases allocation; Free Press Journal: Govt cuts electric two-wheeler subsidy by 50%, extends PM E-DRIVE
MSME law amended: central PSUs must pay small suppliers through TReDS
7 August 2026
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 3 August and the Lok Sabha on 7 August, according to PRS. It lets the central government set MSME thresholds by notification on investment and turnover, makes registration voluntary through a digital platform, and requires every central public sector enterprise to settle invoices from MSMEs on TReDS, the RBI-regulated Trade Receivables Discounting System on which small firms raise money against invoices.
Background. The MSMED Act, 2006 first defined MSMEs and requires buyers to pay MSME suppliers within 45 days. Delayed payment is one of small businesses' biggest problems.
Why CLAT asks: Knowing what TReDS does gives a clean one-line answer on MSME finance.
Source: PRS Bill Track: MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026
