Adjusted for inflation, the earlier scheme would have collected Rs 25,000 crore.
Rs 6,000-cr disclosure just four days before scheme ends
In its appeal, the doctors' body said the government should promote universal free vaccination to all above 18 years of age without leaving the vaccines to the extent of 50 per cent to the states and private hospitals.
'The decision to supply free food grains is not an economically sound decision because the government will find it very difficult in future to charge anything for food grains.'
The government on Wednesday extended by three months its programme to provide free rations to the poor at a cost of Rs 44,762 crore as it looked to ease pain from high inflation and make political gains in the upcoming Gujarat elections.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was launched in March 2020 to provide free 5 kg foodgrains per person per month to about 80 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to reduce their hardship during the lockdown period. This was over and above the general allocation under the NFSA.
Under 'Operation Clean Money', the I-T department had sent SMS and e-mails to 18 lakh people
The Survey lists some of the challenges that might impede India's progress.
Apart from Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, where none of the estimated 6.7 million construction workers got cash transfer benefits, the coverage of the construction workers was the lowest in Delhi, where only about 5 per cent of the estimated workers received cash under the PMGKY, followed by Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (22 per cent), among major states. In India, construction workers belong to the unorganised sector but account for the highest share of non-farm jobs after manufacturing.
He said the people of the state took a historic decision in 2003 by removing the government of "Mr Bantadhar", apparently referring to senior Congress leader and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh.
Is it a case of poor targeting of a welfare scheme, or is it a reflection of the government's desire to expand the scope of this benefit to secure greater electoral dividends? asks A K Bhattacharya.
Hasmukh Adhia to present revenue dept's performance over past year & plan for current financial year
With the world's worst outbreak of COVID pandemic stalling a nascent economic recovery, the government has begun assessing the impact of the second wave of infections on different sectors and may look at providing support at an appropriate time to segments requiring fiscal help. Some of the economic indicators, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, still provide confidence and incoming data will throw some more light on the state of the economy, sources said. Services sectors like hospitality, tourism and aviation which had just started recovering were hit hard by the second wave of COVID, the sources said, adding these segments might need some support on an urgent basis from the government.
Government gets Rs 17.1 lakh crore in its kitty
The I-T Department had identified 1.8 million taxpayers in its Operation Clean through data mining and asked them to submit responses about the source of their deposits.
Prime Minister Modi will invite all Olympics participants to his residence for the interaction, in addition to the programme at the Red Fort.
Fitch Ratings director Thomas Rookmaaker said India's debt-to-GDP ratio is likely to rise to 76 per cent from 70 per cent currently due to wider fiscal deficit and low economic growth.
Both prime ministers believed in crafting schemes to help the common man. Modi used quite effectively the instruments Dr Singh introduced. In assessing Modi's success with many schemes, Dr Singh's fundamental work should not be ignored, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Not declaring the black money under the scheme now, but showing it as income in the tax return form would lead to a total levy of 77.25 per cent in taxes and penalty. In case the disclosure is not made either using the scheme or in return, a further 10 per cent penalty on tax will be levied followed by prosecution.
Initially, the additional free benefit under the PMGKAY was provided for a period of three months (April-June 2020) to ameliorate distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the crisis continuing, the programme was extended for another five months (July-November 2020).
Union finance secretary T V Somanathan recently said the Centre had saved Rs 10,000 crore in FY22 on interest payments after adopting new accounting mechanisms for central government agencies and centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) for state governments. Speaking at an event, Somanathan said due to these, there was an unspent balance of Rs 1.2 trillion with state agencies from CSS as on March 31, 2022. This means this amount will be reduced from the Centre's borrowing for now and it can be considered a short-term saving for the exchequer.
Such a move will help bring clarity to the Centre's estimates of the demonetised amount
Speaking during a video interaction with Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana beneficiaries from Madhya Pradesh, he also said that there was 'vikriti' (distortion) in the system of the previous government.
Prime Minister Modi last week called for optimal grain storage, fire audits and mock drills in hospitals as preparations for the harsh summer forecast by the meteorological department.
While the likelihood of these states going the Lanka or Greece way may be an alarming assessment, the financial situation of some states such as Punjab and West Bengal is indeed quite weak.
This amount is just about 10% of the previous IDS
The implementation of four labour codes in one go from April 1 next year will usher in a new wave of reforms in industrial relations and also help in attracting more investments but employment generation will remain a key challenge in 2021. This year has also been a challenging year for the work force as well as for employers due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government imposed a nationwide lockdown from March 25, which had an adverse impact on economic activities and resulted in exodus of migrant workers from large cities to their homes in the hinterland. Many migrant labourers lost their jobs and it took months for them to return back to their work places from their native places.
If you are making any drastic changes, make sure there is adequate documentation
The Income Tax department has begun the process to examine bank deposits and transactions to check possible black money instances and said once the last opportunity to declare funds in old notes under the PMGKY scheme ends it will be very tough for hoarders.
The Sena and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray labelled each other gaddar (traitor) after Shinde's rebellion split their original party last year, while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis publicly asserted he had exacted revenge on Thackeray for his betrayal.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
The prime minister held a meeting with chief ministers via video-conferencing, and said it was imperative to work on war footing, identify hotspots, encircle them and ensure that coronavirus does not spread out.
Why did Karnataka's economic prosperity fail to influence the nature of electoral promises made by political parties in the run-up to the assembly elections? asks A K Bhattacharya.
"All corona warriors deserve high praise," Kovind said in his televised address.
In the coming few weeks, agriculture markets in North and Central India will be full of wheat, mustard, and chana - the three main rabi crops grown in these parts. Not only will the price trajectory of these determine the course of food inflation in the months to come, but it could also have a wider impact on the rural economy in the main growing states for these crops. Wheat and chana are largely grown in Madhya Pradesh (MP).
The excise duty cut will translate into a reduction of Rs 9.5 a litre on petrol and Rs 7 a litre in diesel after taking into account its impact on other levies.
March requires 20% jump to meet year's goal; CBDT chief tells staff to sweat it out to meet target
However, two districts -- Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab -- which did not record a fresh case in the last 28 days, reported new COVID-19 cases on Monday, it added.
The I-T department will rely on data analytical tools and run models to separate black money holders and genuine taxpayers based on the large data base being shared by banks.
'It has been an ongoing process, talking to the relevant ministries about eliminating leakages and curbing non-core expenditure in various schemes.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances