VB-G RAM G sees nearly 50% drop in rural jobs

In India, there is a big government program that pays villagers to do useful jobs like building roads and cleaning ponds.

Recently, the program got a new name, VB-G RAM G, and new rules.

In its very first month, the program provided almost half as much work as it did one year before.

That means many fewer families got work — the lowest numbers in five years.

One reason is that the new program allows a break during planting season, when farmers are busy in the fields, and seven states chose to take that break.

The rains have also been poor in half of India's districts, which makes things harder for farmers.

The government says the program is going well and that almost all families who asked for work got it.

It also set aside more money than ever before for the program, which now promises 125 days of paid work a year to each rural household.

Most of the workers were women.

But experts worry that with less work, villages will have less money to spend, and the program will be tested if the rains stay weak.