Three laws passed in Parliament could boost central revenues, reshape GST cess flows, shift MGNREGA costs to states and create new budget headroom ahead of the 2026-2027 Union Budget, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Sources in the Rural Development Ministry said the actual expenditure incurred in 2020-21 will be higher than the allocated funds and it will at least be at par with this year's total estimated expenditure of MGNREGS.
The Centre has allocated Rs 73,000 crore to the rural employment guarantee programme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for the next fiscal 2021-22, substantially lower than the actual expenditure of Rs 1.11 lakh crore in the current fiscal which included an additional Rs 40,000 crore for the scheme given by the government in the wake of the pandemic's impact on the economy.
Launching the scheme, Modi said during the nationwide lockdown, the talent from cities returned to villages and it will now give a boost to development of rural areas. The 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan' will be implemented on a mission mode in 125 days in 116 districts of six states -- Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha -- that received the maximum numbers of migrant workers back.
MNREGS labourers are usually engaged in irrigation projects.
Acute shortage of labour and migration towards social schemes like Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), a large number of construction projects are lagging behind their completion schedules.
Buoyancy in the real estate sector along with improved construction activities created jobs and facilitated the return of migrant workers to cities, the Economic Survey for 2022-23 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday said. This assumes significance in view of loss of jobs due to lockdown restrictions imposed in various parts of the country from time to time amid different waves of pandemic since March 2020. The survey points towards sustained recovery in the economic activities during 2022-23 fiscal year.
There are a number of problems that plague the implementation of MGNREGA, including corruption, administrative paralysis and other hardy perennials. Massive amounts of funds on this scheme remained unspent in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
The amount allocated for 2019-20 is 11 per cent higher compared to Rs 55,000 crore allocated for the year 2018-19.
Timely payment under the MGNREGA is essential as it is a demand-driven scheme.
We need real laws to protect whistle-blowers, and even more than that real action should be taken against perpetrators, says Sandip Sukhtankar.
Congress' senior spokesperson Anand Sharma Sharma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must 'walk the talk' and announce the measures required by giving money in the hands of the poor and small and medium enterprises to help reboot the economy.
Bihar government has decided to use high-tech GPS enabled Android phones to monitor progress of the rural jobs scheme and keep a watch on the officials involved in the implementation of the scheme.
The Centre has allocated Rs 73,000 crore for the rural jobs guarantee programme for 2022-23.
Non-flagship programmes to get a mere 5% hike in allocation
Ramesh wants Maharashtra to be a pace setter.
Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said.
India's post-pandemic recovery appears to be shaping up like the letter K, widening the inequality among states. The last part of the series captures the rising rural distress, as seen through the prism of MGNREGS demand. The pandemic appears to have exacerbated rural distress in the poorest states.
Accusing Jairam of making a mountain out of a molehill, she has sought to draw the prime minister's attention to the minister's bid to generalise some information.
Bihar Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra on Monday ordered an inquiry into the allegations that nearly 73 per cent of the funds allotted for implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in 38 districts of Bihar, between 2006 and 2012, have been embezzled by authorities.
The Prime Minister also expressed concern over problems in implementation of MNREGA in Naxal-affected areas.
The quantum of irregularities can be gauged from the fact that during 11 months of last fiscal, Union Rural Development Ministry received 351 complaints of alleged embezzlement of funds in the NREGA.
The plan could mature into either an umbrella programme for urban youths similar to the Garib Kalyan Rozgaar Abhiyaan or a modified urban-focused version of MGNREGS.
Scheme faces pincer attack with a proposed higher proportion of expenditure on material, reducing the budget available to pay wages and focus on implementing it only in 2,500 blocks.
Muzaffarpur tops the list with 96,855 double job cards under MNREGA.
'If the total amount is spent, it will be highest Budget spend on MGNREGA.'
In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday underlined the need for collaboration between the Centre and states to take up the next-generation reforms covering land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship. As far as revenue share goes, the government has projected to give about 32.5 per cent of central taxes to states during FY25, against the 15th Finance Commission's recommendation of 41 per cent, according to the Union Budget estimate.
Between April and September 2014, the central govt released Rs 13,618 cr to states, against Rs 24,676 cr in the same period last year.
Rahul Gandhi on took a dig at PM Modi saying his government's praise of the UPA's flagship scheme MGNREGA is a "shining example" of Modi's "political wisdom".
The government appointed panel will look at the difficulties consumers faced in receiving the subsidy after buying gas cylinders at market rates.
A performance audit on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guatantee Act found that Bihar was deprived of grant of Rs 9684.24 crore (Rs 96.84 billion) during 2007-12 in the shape of central share due to less creation of mandays, sharp increase in demand for fund without sufficient justification and unspent balance grant, said the report.
Around 40 per cent of the country is staring at drought-like conditions ahead of the monsoon as water levels have receded sharply.
But the government will present a second tranche of Supplementary Demands for Grants during the Budget session of Parliament in February, when it can seek additional spending.
To kick-start the work under MGNREGA after the lockdown is lifted, the government has already prepared plans and states have also submitted their work plans.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has asserted that alliances are formed only at the time of elections and declined to categorically say if his party would align with the BJP for the 2026 Assembly polls. Palaniswami met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday and brought to his attention several issues faced by Tamil Nadu, including the need for funds release, the implementation of the Godavari-Cauvery river linking plan, and a probe into the "TASMAC scam." He said that while the party would decide on an alliance at the time of the election, he did not rule out a tie-up with the BJP.
Additional infrastructure for dining rooms in each of the school has been recommended.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to step up efforts to boost consumption and rural economy while keeping inflation under check when she presents her sixth straight Budget on February 1. Experts said one way to boost consumption is to put more money in the hands of people, and one of the possible ways of doing it is by reducing the tax burden through tinkering with tax slabs or increasing the standard deduction. Another proposal is related to increasing the funds under the rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA and higher payout for farmers.
Taking serious note of the rampant corruption in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Uttar Pradesh, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Friday ordered a Central Bureau of Investogation probe into the alleged large scale financial bungling brought to its notice through a public interest litigation, moved by local journalist Sachchidanand Gupta .
The Rural Development Ministry has been allocated Rs 1.88 lakh crore in the Union Budget for 2025-26, around 5.75 per cent more than the allocation in the previous budget.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee along with party leaders and workers sat on a dharna at the Rajghat in New Delhi on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on Monday demanding the release of funds for West Bengal by the Centre.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances