Only around 27 per cent of the funds allocated to the flagship Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) in the budget has been spent in nine months of the fiscal year.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's demand for special-category status still looks a far cry.
According to a senior Planning Commission official, according to the new criteria evolved by members Abhijit Sen and Mihir Shah, henceforth BRGF amounts will be allocated on the basis of backward blocks and not just districts.
The Union government is on a social sector roll. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had indicated that the United Progressive Alliance government was going to make the social sector the centrepiece of the upcoming Budget. According to Dilip Ghosh, special secretary, Panchayat Raj department of West Bengal, the Centre has indicated that the demand for grants for these projects should be hiked at least 50 per cent more than the present allocation.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has long been demanding special category status for his state.
To stay on the right side of the Trinamool Congress, the Centre has opened its coffers for West Bengal.
The Union Budget 2011-2012 is likely to be more beneficial for the special and underdeveloped states, including J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar, rating agency Fitch said on Wednesday.
As indicated by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA government has already initiated process to make higher allocation in social sector.
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
According to an Andhra government statement, Naidu 'reposed confidence' in the PM's leadership.
Taking a dig at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over his visit to Hyderabad, where he is slated to address a public meeting on Sunday, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said that the Bharatiya Janata Party had lost polls wherever the former campaigned for it in the past.
A fresh scheme is likely to be released in the upcoming Budget
The new Companies Bill will boost such spending by both public and private companies. Praful Patel, Union minister for heavy industries & public enterprises, speaks to Business Standard on the issue.
Kumar also questioned the prime minister on various promises made by his government including return of black money, enhanced MSP to farmers and special status to Bihar among others.
'It is just an excuse to say that the Centre has run out of money.' 'Pruning these schemes would mean hard time for the people of India.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
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.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Thursday ended his nine-day-old indefinite fast, but warned of a bigger agitation if no action was taken in two months on giving reservation benefits to the community.
Various alleged administrative and financial irregularities worth crores have been pointed out in execution of development works in worst Naxal-hit Bastar district of Chhattisgarh by state Accountant General.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley more than halved the central government's financial support.
The demand was raised during a debate on the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill 2017 in the Upper House, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 2 superseding the amendments earlier carried out by the Rajya Sabha.
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.
All these measures will revitalise the manufacturing sector, which has been in doldrums.
Rs 28,117.23 crore has been made available so far by the Centre for 30 schemes out of special package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for the state announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
This is the Centre's highest-ever budgeted capital outlay.
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The prime minister came down heavily on the Congress government in Assam and the previous UPA government at the Centre for "failing" to fulfil dreams and aspiration of the people.
While Congress-ruled states such as Kerala, Karnataka and Assam expressed fears about the sudden demise of the planning process and wondered what it would be replaced with, also worrying about the immediate implications on annual Plan outlays, Andhra Pradesh said it was considering setting up its own NITI Aayog.
The Congress president alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party deceived people and siphoned off hard-earned money of farmers, poor, small businessmen to fill the pockets of the country's 15-20 big industrialists.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
'India missed the software products revolution (and now is in danger of missing the platform revolution), complacent that we are the software experts of the world based on IT services prowess,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
The industry status will help the sector access bank lending at average interest rates
'The BJP has not moved on since its 2014 victory. There is nothing new to offer. There is far too much negativity about the other side and far too little about what has been achieved by its government.' 'That may have worked when the BJP was in the Opposition but if they believe that the people of India will continue to hold them to such a low standard of expectations, they are really taking the voter for granted or misreading his pulse.'
'Hindu voters in coastal Karnataka lean more towards Hindutva than Hinduism which explains why the Siddaramaiah government's perception as anti-Hindu worked wonders for the BJP in coastal Karnataka.'
'You cannot judge a government within a month. Give us five years' time.' 'At times, strict economic decisions have to be made for the good of the poor in the long run.' Dharmendra Pradhan, one of the Modi government's stars, speaks exclusively to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com about why the government is forced to roll out 'bitter medicine.'
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