What might be the author’s overall purpose for discussing the development from MGNREGA to the VB-GRAM G Act?
English Language & Comprehension ·Previously asked in SSC CGL 2025
View the full solved paper: SSC CGL 2025 Tier II (19 Jan 2026)
Passage
PASSAGE (Q91–Q95): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions based on the passage:
The Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and AJeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB-GRAM G), 2025, has been replaced by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The goal of this modification is to improve Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which protects the right to life. MGNREGA has improved socioeconomic conditions by facilitating wage payments, providing unemployment benefits, and promoting equal earnings. There has been sustainable development, and research has confirmed the impact of this program to raise earnings, alleviate poverty, and encourage school enrollment. In the past five years, women have comprised 58% of the workforce, significantly contributing to rural development, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given these factors, it is important to assess both the benefits and current challenges of the system. Despite MGNREGA’s successes, the program has faced implementation challenges, mainly due to inadequate funding, as acknowledged by the Ministry of Finance. Delays in wage payments and fewer work opportunities have resulted from this lack of funds. Recent rules, such as introducing an attendance application that uses photos, have created new problems and made corruption easier. Due to these issues, the VB-GRAM G Act has introduced important changes, including sections 5(1) and 4(5), which give the Union Government greater control over the public works program.
Question
What might be the author’s overall purpose for discussing the development from MGNREGA to the VB-GRAM G Act?
- A. Argue that a decrease in the role of government can logically solve the inherent shortcomings in rural employment patterns
- B. Emphasize how institutional reforms try to maintain constitutionally provided rights while recognizing administrative weaknesses (Correct answer)
- C. Argue that technology-based interventions will necessarily increase the levels of transparency and accountability associated with public programs
- D. Argue that a transition from a rights-based framework to an AI-based system is necessary to achieve efficient results for rural communities.
Correct Answer
Option B — Emphasize how institutional reforms try to maintain constitutionally provided rights while recognizing administrative weaknesses
Detailed Solution & Explanation
The correct answer is Emphasize how institutional and legislative change reshapes the programme.
Key Points
- The passage traces a legislative transition in rural employment guarantee law and then examines what the amended provisions do — notably the sections shifting greater control to the Union Government.
- Its purpose is therefore to show how institutional restructuring alters the programme's operation, rather than to argue a narrow point about funding levels or technology.
- Options proposing a single narrow argument miss the passage's broader analytical framing.
Additional Information
- Author's purpose questions ask why the passage was written, not what it says — the answer describes a rhetorical aim such as *emphasise*, *contrast*, *warn* or *evaluate*.
- A passage that describes a change, then examines its provisions and consequences, is almost always doing analysis rather than advocacy.
- MGNREGA (2005) guarantees 100 days of wage employment per rural household per year and is administered by the Ministry of Rural Development.
- Options containing absolute verbs like "argue that" tend to overstate a passage whose method is descriptive and evaluative.
Topics covered: Reading Comprehension Author's Purpose