Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has called for speedy implementation of various welfare schemes, which target the weaker sections of society.
Union minister of state for commerce, Jairam Ramesh, said there was no proposal to fix the national minimum wage rate at Rs 60 per day under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
Using banks to make NREGA payments has only added to corruption, says Anirban Kar.
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.
With UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi pushing for increased wages for labourers, the government on Thursday came out with a new structure for payment of wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) that will be linked to inflation.
Higher inflation might just be the necessary cost that we need to bear in making a transition to a higher growth trajectory.
A man killed during a recent anti-Naxal operation in Madhya Pradesh's Mandla district was a tribal and not a Maoist, an official said on Saturday. The opposition Congress claimed he was innocent and demanded a high-level probe and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The 19th Congress of the CPI-M in Coimbatore on Wednesday discussed the uneven growth of the party in the country. It demanded scrapping the Article 355, 356.
The amount allocated for 2019-20 is 11 per cent higher compared to Rs 55,000 crore allocated for the year 2018-19.
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 for the rural jobs guarantee programme for 2022-23.
'Right to apprenticeship means that anyone below the age of 25 years with a diploma or other qualifications can demand an apprenticeship with a private, a public sector company or a government organisation. And when he/she demands this, it is the obligation of the government to provide it.'
Alloting more funds for MNREGA and PM-KISAN could wipe out the entire additional money that the Centre may have for FY25.
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.
Enclosing the money with a letter, the workers affiliated to the Gram Swaraj Mazdoor Sangh "expressed concern" at the "meagre" hike as they felt that the central government was facing "paucity of funds", otherwise the wages would have definitely increased in tune with Jharkhand's minimum daily wage which is Rs 212.
The Democratic Front, in its manifesto, also sought to tap rural voters by promising at least 200 days of job under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and suggested to convene an all party meeting and virtual meetings of Parliament Standing Committees to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country.
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.
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.
Delivering a speech at a rally in Jalpaiguri on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Congress-led UPA government of denying funds while spending 'so much money' for its advertisement campaign.
In its report to the rural development ministry, the NLM has also noted that 60 per cent of the districts have 'unsatisfactory or irrelevant' choice of works under the Act and its technical supervision was also absent.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday directed officials to take strict action against illegal occupants of any land, be it government or private, without discrimination.
He pointed out that wages under the NREGA have been increased from Rs 61 to Rs 100 which would lead to earnings of Rs 10,000 annually 'irrespective of qualification'. Mukherjee, who is the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief urged party workers to pinpoint failures in implementation of the scheme at the block and panchayat levels.
With hardly anything positive to flaunt before the electorate while seeking a third consecutive term at the Centre, Sonia Gandhi's Congress is desperately hoping that the food security law will help it win the support of the people much like the national rural employment guarantee or the right to information acts or the farm loan waivers had done for it in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, says Saroj Negi
'If the total amount is spent, it will be highest Budget spend on MGNREGA.'
The recent draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which pointed to misuse and non-utilisation of funds for the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme doesn't mean the programme is a write-off. The audit will act as a deterrent and spur state governments to work more efficiently, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has said.
80% of the surveyed districts did not show any change in migration
'There is also a possibility that Andhra Pradesh may demand a similar package. But as of now, we are only working on a package for Bihar.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that polls can be rigged through social media, and that if social media companies want, they can make any party win an election.
'Oh god, these workers will now spread the virus! Their only concern was to think about themselves.' 'The middle class was only concerned with flattening the curve of coronavirus and they were not bothered about how these workers live in one room with 10 people or 20 people.'
'Any finality in such matters requires political views. We will review it closer to the full Budget.'
Drought hit Bihar plans to increase the number of days of work from 100 to 150 under the rural job scheme to check migration of the poorest of poor in search of livelihood by providing employment opportunity locally.
Banerjee, who is staging a two-day sit-in to protest alleged discrimination by the Centre against the state, had on Wednesday in a change of stance urged all political parties in the country to unitedly fight the Bharatiya Janata Party in next year's Lok Sabha election.
This survey also shows how things have moved forward since the last large-scale sample survey conducted by NSSO in 2012-13
The move is aimed at cutting the fiscal deficit, which the government wants to contain at 4.1 per cent of GDP.
The Left party had favoured spending six and three per cent of GDP on education and health care sectors.
Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said.
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