The income-tax department on Thursday nudged black money holders to make "honest" disclosures under the tax amnesty scheme -- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana -- warning that non-declaration could attract 77.25 per cent tax and penalty along with prosecution.
The approval is in addition to the existing scheme for the wage months of March to May, 2020 approved on April 15, 2020. The total estimated expenditure is Rs 4,860 crore and over 72 lakh employees in 3.67 lakh establishments will be benefitted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the government will extend for five years the free ration scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, covering 80 crore poor people.
The statutory resolution demanded that the Tribunals Reforms Bill be send to the select committee of the House, however, it got negated.
The government has extended the PMGKAY scheme to provide 5 kg free foodgrains per month to around 80 crore poor people for another five years. A decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday. Giving details on Wednesday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) has been extended for another five years from January 1, 2024.
The government has extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme to provide 5 kilogrammes of free foodgrains per month to around 80 crore poor people for another five years.
In times of global challenges, G-20 presidency gives an opportunity to strengthen India's role in the global order, she added. The government is implementing scheme to supply free foodgrains to poor under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) with expenditure of Rs 2 lakh crore from January 1, the finance minister said.
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar countered a US senator's claim that democracy does not put food on the table, citing India's PMGKAY program which provides food to 800 million people. Jaishankar argued that different parts of the world have different experiences with democracy and that the model of globalization has contributed to issues with democracy in some regions. He emphasized that India's democratic system effectively delivers food security, highlighting the PMGKAY program as an example.
Of the total cash outgo Rs 40,000 crore is towards enhanced expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Rs 33,771.48 crore have been sought for direct benefit transfer under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme.
'If a poor voter sees Modi's picture on ration bags, it is natural he will vote for Modi and the BJP.'
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.
"Fact that persons with disabilities get marginalised from every scheme does not require a debate," the court said.
Under the PMGKY scheme, black money holders can deposit unaccounted cash in account which will be subject to 50 per cent tax and 4-year interest free lock-in for the remaining 25 per cent of the amount
The sole intention of the opposition parties is to create roadblocks on the path of development, the prime minister said, as he termed their action "anti national".
This is the first Budget in Amrit Kaal, she said.
Rs 6,000-cr disclosure just four days before scheme ends
'It is good for us if the JMM contests. That will divide the Opposition and give us the upper hand.'
To ensure enough food to the poor during the lockdown, the government last week started distributing free 5 kg of rice or wheat per person and 1 kg pulse per household under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to over 81 crore PDS beneficiaries.
Extreme poverty in India declined by 12.3 percentage points between 2011 and 2019, with rural areas doing better than urban centres, according to a working paper of the World Bank. India has not released a new household consumption survey since the NSS from 2011. By extension, the country has not released any official estimates of poverty and inequality for over a decade now, added the paper co-authored by economists Sutirtha Sinha Roy and Roy van der Weide.
Prime Minister Modi will invite all Olympics participants to his residence for the interaction, in addition to the programme at the Red Fort.
Distributing chana is easier than other varieties of pulses as it only requires cleaning and sorting and can be consumed whole; it was also abundantly available with Nafed.
"The response (to the PMGKY) has not been so good...about Rs 5,000 crore of income was declared in PMGKY," Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said.
It was reported that the new amnesty scheme would allow gold hoarders a chance to come clean on investment made using black money by declaring their possession and paying tax on it.
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.
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).
also made a case for the need to create a self-sufficiency fund for innovation, construction and manufacturing clusters to make use of the emerging opportunities in the wake of disruption in global supply chain.
"The Congress government and the chief minister should tell the people of Chhattisgarh what link they have with the accused in this scam sitting in Dubai," he said.
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.
The income tax department on Friday warned against indulging in cash transaction of Rs 2 lakh or more, saying that the receiver of the amount will have to cough up an equal amount as penalty.
Given that the target was to reach 80.34 million families under PMUY - within three months starting April 1 - the government should have distributed at least 241.02 million cylinders by the end of June. It actually ended up distributing only 119.7 million cylinders.
Tax administration could be improved to reduce discretion and improve accountability
The announcement by Banerjee, who is also the chief of the ruling TMC, comes just months ahead of the assembly polls, due in April-May.
According to an Election Commission statement, the two have decided not to avail exemption from income tax on sumptuary allowance and to surrender two of the three Leave Travel Concessions (LTC) available each year.
Limited IT staff may compel them to focus on big fish than small depositors.
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.
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.
About 56 million Indians may have plunged into extreme poverty in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, increasing the global tally by 71 million and making it the worst year for poverty reduction since World War II, according to fresh estimates by the World Bank. "The global goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is likely to be missed: By then, about 600 million people will remain in abject poverty. A major course correction is needed," Indermit Gill, chief economist at the World Bank, tweeted. The World Bank in its latest "Poverty and Shared Prosperity" made fresh estimates of poverty using a new extreme poverty line based on the purchasing power parity (PPP) of $2.15, the earlier one being at $1.9.
On the extension of the PMGKAY, he said it will cost the government Rs 90,000 crore more.
Government sources said the GoM on coronavirus crisis also reviewed various measures being initiated by concerned ministries to allow partial economic activity in 'non-hotspot zones' from April 20.
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