'I wonder how people who come to power through democratic means turn out this way.' 'But people of India are strong, and those who think they can hoodwink people, are mistaken.' 'You can fool some people for some time, but not all people, all the time.'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked stakeholders like the Centre, Niti Aayog, Finance Commission and the Reserve Bank of India, to brainstorm on the 'serious' issue of freebies announced during elections and put forth 'constructive suggestions' to tackle it, saying no political party will oppose such handouts or like to debate it in Parliament.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said GST compensation to some states is delayed due to non-availability of AG's authenticated certificate, and that Kerala has not sent even a single such certificate since 2017-18. Replying to a supplementary question, she also said that Rs 86,912 crore has been released for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation payable to all states up to May 31, 2022. She said as per law, GST Council decides to whom the GST compensation is to be released, not by the central government.
'The finance ministry's decision to accept the deficit target of 4.5 per cent in 2025-2026 appears to have emanated from its endorsement of the Finance Commission's view that the Indian economy will continue to remain impacted by the pandemic, adversely undermining its growth potential,' notes A K Bhattacharya.
We must heed what the CJI has said. Challenging every judgment of the central government is inviting chaos, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Amid the opposition UDF's sloganeering against him, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday delivered the customary address to the assembly with the policy document outlining the Left government's administrative achievements and criticising the Centre for allegedly pushing the state to financial constraints by reducing its resource allocations.
'The actions of Indian monetary authorities will depend on how quickly they want the inflation to come down to 4 per cent.'
The comments from Das assume importance as the government for two consecutive terms have missed its fiscal deficit targets by 10 bps
'The government should act proactively to instil confidence in the private investors, and also boost the purchasing power of people directly or indirectly by ensuring minimum wages.'
'As far as contract farming is concerned, we already have a model Act and states will be encouraged to adopt them.'
The bench said it has to balance the equity and it was not against any policy of the government or the scheme.
'If because of El Nino, the monsoon is affected adversely in the current year, naturally it will affect income projections and consequently Budget numbers.'
For every rupee in the government coffer, 58 paise will come from direct and indirect taxes, 35 paise from borrowings and other liabilities, 5 paise from non-tax revenue like disinvestment and 2 paise from non-debt capital receipts, according to the Budget documents for 2022-23. According to the Union Budget 2022-23 presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, goods and services tax will contribute 16 paise in every rupee revenue, while corporation tax will contribute 15 paise to each rupee earned. The government is also looking to earn 7 paise for every rupee from Union excise duty and 5 paise from customs duty. Income tax will yield 15 paise to every rupee collection.
Performance-based incentives were recommended by the 13th Finance Commission, but omitted by the 14th Finance Commission
Former CAG Rajiv Mehrishi says Centre has held back a report he submitted to the President, to end what he called "a nightmare of accounts that militates against good governance".
Sitharaman also said states will get 41 per cent share of taxes as per the 15th Finance Commission recommendation and the government has accepted the recommendation.
Amid a debate on the freebies, the Election Commission on Tuesday proposed amending the model code to ask political parties to provide authentic information to voters on the financial viability of their poll promises.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi said it was sitting in a combination of two and according to a reference order on the matter, it should go before a bench of three judges for disposal.
The states have outstanding liabilities of a whopping Rs 59,89,360 crore as on March 31, 2021, and the new sources of risk have emerged in the form of rising expenditure on non-merit freebies, the Supreme Court was told on Thursday by a PIL petitioner opposing irrational handouts.
Sources in the Fifteenth Finance Commission said that they will implement the provisions after the bill is enacted and the President makes a reference to it.
Ahead of the general elections, a slew of states and also the Centre had doled out sops to the marginalised sections, including the farmers and the poor.
A memorandum, signed by the chief ministers or finance ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Karnataka, Delhi, West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab, said the terms were disruptive and a cause for concern.
Vithal, a 1950-batch IAS officer, died early on Friday morning due to old age ailments, his son Sanjay Baru, media advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, told PTI.
The government, it would seem, is reserving its firepower to spend on big-ticket items that will be announced in the Budget, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
The CrPC (Identification) Bill empowers the police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and those accused of crimes while the DMC (Amendment) Bill, 2022 seeks to unify the three civic bodies in the national capital.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
The government is also looking to earn 8 paise for every rupee from Union excise duty and 3 paise from customs duty. While, income tax will yield 14 paise to every rupee collection.
With less than five months left for the report of the Fifteenth Finance Commission to be submitted, its chairman N K Singh said the report will have fiscal road map for states, depending on their current situation.
The number of centrally sponsored schemes have increased to 35 in FY22 from 30 in FY21 and central sector schemes have increased to 704 from 685 in the previous year, reports Dilasha Seth.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said there must be a "debate" on the "serious" issue relating to the practice of political parties promising freebies and asked why cannot the Centre call for an all-party meeting on it.
The government has extended the term of Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das by another three years upto December 2024, according to an official order.
The Supreme Court Monday said no state should deny the ex-gratia compensation of Rs 50,000, as recommended by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), to the kin of persons who died of COVID-19 on the sole ground that death certificate does not mention it as the cause of death.
Various indicators make it amply clear that there are grave challenges facing the new government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, reports Indivjal Dhasmana.
The poll panel also referred to the reported strong oral observations of the top court against it during the last hearing on the PIL on the issue, saying they have "caused irreparable damage to the reputation of this institution built over the years".
Budget for 2022-2023 has returned to its agenda for protectionism in the name of creating a self-reliant India, points out A K Bhattacharya.
There are several welcome standalone reforms, but these do not add up to a coherent strategy to achieve a $5 trillion economy or secure Aatmanirbharta, observes Rathin Roy.
The high-level panel also asked the government to work towards re-orienting subsidies in a targeted manner from the crop sector to the non-crop sector and redesign the electronic National Agriculture Market.
The remarks by Naidu in his last address as the country's Vice President came even as Telangana's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi RS said the welfare of poorer sections of society is not a freebie and that welfare measures taken by governments should continue.
While five resident doctors of Hindu Rao Hospital had been sitting on a relay hunger strike since Friday, the senior doctors of the North Corporation-run facilities had gone on an indefinite strike on Tuesday. Their associations had joined hands in solidarity since Tuesday.
Cities are setting the rules that now carry life and death implications for their residents, and most of these rules are sought to be set by the municipal authorities who have never wielded such power, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
