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 government may raise the number of job days under the NREGA scheme to compensate rural households for loss of income due to a poor monsoon in large part of the country.
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 biggest headwind to the consumption story in FY23 is a sharp decline in government subsidies on food, fertiliser and fuel, and overall decline in revenue expenditure net of interest payments. This, analysts say, will adversely impact purchasing power of households at the lower end of the income pyramid, translating into lower spending on consumer goods and services.
The districts have provided 64 days of jobs under the 100-day job scheme as against the state average of 45 days.
The scheme would check fake payments made under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and ensure that the officials don't fudge the workers' wages, state rural development department sources said. Launched from Dharhar village of Paliganj area in Naxalite-hit Jehanabad district recently, the 'E-Shakti' scheme promises to cover each worker with smart cards carrying details about duration of work, the wage earned, photograph and registration number of the beneficiary.
Youth unemployment (ages 15 to 29) is higher than the national average of 12.4 per cent in Telangana (14.2 per cent) and Rajasthan (13 per cent), followed by Chhattisgarh (6.7 per cent) and MP (6 per cent).
The government appointed panel will look at the difficulties consumers faced in receiving the subsidy after buying gas cylinders at market rates.
The prime minister also said the government proposes to set up an ombudsman in each district for effective grievance redressal under NREGA.
Alloting more funds for MNREGA and PM-KISAN could wipe out the entire additional money that the Centre may have for FY25.
The Minimum Wages Act will be amended to enact a new centrally set minimum, in the wake of the National Advisory Council's suggestion on asymmetries in this regard between states on payments for work done on schemes under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Minister for Rural Development Programme, has announced that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has been launched in all the districts of country. In the first year 2006-2007 the scheme was implemented in 200 districts, in the next year it was extended to 130 districts & in 2008-2009 it covered the remaining 274 districts. Singh said that all those working under the scheme would be paid by cheque which will have to be deposited in the banks.
Under attack from opposition parties and activists, the Bihar government has ordered the Crime Branch to probe the murder of RTI activist Ram Kumar Thakur, a police official said.
The Prime Minister also expressed concern over problems in implementation of MNREGA in Naxal-affected areas.
80% of the surveyed districts did not show any change in migration
States may set it higher, not lower; planned link to cost of living.
The Unique Identification Number scheme, which is expected to roll out the first number in 12-18 months, will be first conferred on the beneficiaries of the the centre's flagship programme under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
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.
This meant targets set for primary school admissions, assured income for every family and roads, water, housing and electricity. And yearly spending of over Rs 1,20,000 crore (Rs 1,200 billion), up from Rs 36,000 crore (Rs 360 billion) in the last year of the National Democratic Alliance government.
Muzaffarpur tops the list with 96,855 double job cards under MNREGA.
The purpose of the rural job scheme is being defeated as, in this drought year, focus on providing work and timely wages is lost in other things, says economist and activist Jean Dreze.
Official panel points to bid deficiencies in rural job guarantee, pensions, housing and other programmes.
Launching an attack on the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist in West Bengal, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the party of 'grabbing' crores of rupees from central funds meant for the uplift of the poor and downtrodden.
Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said.
Core sector companies have seen volumes drop to single digit in the first nine months of FY16.
Ramesh, a labourer in Toomda village near Bhopal, can't believe his luck. He earns Rs 81 a day, digging wells under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, the United Progressive Alliance's flagship social welfare scheme that started in 2006.
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".
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the actual spending under the scheme in the fiscal year ending March 31 "would be highest".
Govt's grand plans often go wrong. Although they seem good in theory, they don't work in practice. For instance, last Pay Commission, which handed out generous pay hikes to central government employees on the unrealistic recommendation (which quickly became an assumption) that the number of such employees would be reduced by 3 per cent each year, totalling up to a cumulative reduction of 30% in a decade. Success comes with a special set of circumstances, not as routine.
The top court's remark came while setting aside an order of the Madras high court which directed the Tamil Nadu government to create the posts under the designation.
'There is no immediate threat to the government, and they would prefer the growth agenda.'
A nationwide strike called by central trade unions saw a mixed response across India, impacting various sectors and states differently, with some areas experiencing disruptions while others remained largely unaffected.
'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.'
'We cannot leave our entire unorganised sector to the vagaries of market forces.'
'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.'
SBI data shows the per-capita payouts for scheme have shot up this year.
