The proposal is currently with the finance department and is expected to be placed before the Cabinet in the coming days.
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The scarcity of resources is particularly evident in the case of Rajasthan compared to many other states.
Rajasthan is reeling under a huge financial burden with the state's debt having gone beyond Rs 5.59 lakh crores. Rajasthan has increased expenditure on education by 203.4 percent, by 105.4 percent on health, by 227.14 percent on housing. Its expenditure on social welfare schemes has increased by almost 2,475 per cent.
Apart from recruiting 18,000 women in state's police force, Thackeray said all female police stations will also be established in Maharashtra.
Most think tax-saving deductions exist only in the old regime. But the New one quietly retains 40+ ways to ease your tax load
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RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav promised that if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar, it will ensure every family has a member with a government job, enacting legislation within 20 days of forming the government.
'This outcome is thoroughly unexpected.' 'I travelled extensively across villages, engaged in detailed discussions with residents, and consulted with party workers who had been canvassing from village to village, from one location to another, seeking grassroots feedback.' 'Not a single interlocutor suggested that there would be an NDA wave of this magnitude.'
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The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Sunday released its manifesto for the Maharashtra assembly polls, promising free cervical cancer vaccines for girls aged 9 to 16 and and two optional leave days for women employees during menstruation.
From appointment letters becoming mandatory to gig workers receiving social security to enhanced rights for women and contract labour, the changes reflect India's attempt to balance ease of doing business with stronger worker welfare.
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Goyal also announced hiking of tax free gratuity to Rs 30 lakh from existing Rs 20 lakh for employees having service of more than five years.
Both NDA and INDIA are racing to woo marginalised groups with Assembly polls fast approaching.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he didn't harbour aspirations to become Maharashtra CM, a remark coming against the backdrop of Maha Vikas Aghadi allies' reluctance to face assembly polls with a CM face.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
The opposition Congress listed 59 promises in its 106-page manifesto, with assurances for all sections of the society, including farmers, women and government employees.
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Experts say the state's economy is grappling with hidden debt, rising welfare costs, and lack of transparency.
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The Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday cleared a proposal that offers an option of availing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to the state government employees who joined the service after November 2005.
Kharge, who was elected Congress president recently, arrived in Himachal Pradesh Tuesday evening and addressed his first public meeting in Banuti in support of party candidate from the Shimla Rural assembly constituency Vikramaditya Singh.
'When you compare Bihar's poverty from its earlier times, then there is a huge difference. Things have improved a lot. And migration has played an important role in reducing poverty.'
'When we say we want to increase pension participation, do we want to increase participation through the savings route?' 'Or do we want people to save in specific pension products?' asks Renuka Sane.
People like Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram, who as finance minister had fully supported the NPS, refuse to exercise their moral and political influence to try and stop Ashok Gehlot and others hell-bent on wrecking the states' finances, notes Virendra Kapoor.
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'I need 3-4 lakhs for the wedding. All prospective grooms demand a motorcycle which costs 1 to 1.5 lakhs, then you have to also give a bed, cupboard, utensils, fridge,' says Kamala, her wrinkled forehead furrowing with despair.
'Once elected, you have to act like people's representative for the full five years or else people show you your place.'
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He also said that the BJP's defeat in Faizabad seat of Ayodhya, where the Ram temple has been built, shows the wisdom of voters.
The government is also contemplating amendments to other two pension schemes to make widows eligible for it at 18 years instead of present age cap of 40, and disabled with 40 per cent disability qualify for it instead of 80 per cent.
The government should not go in for an 'aggressive fiscal consolidation' in the upcoming Budget as global risks have not abated, RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Member Ashima Goyal said on Wednesday. Goyal further said subsidies are expected to come down as food and energy inflation moderates. WPI inflation in food articles in November was 1.07 per cent against 8.33 per cent in the previous month.
The Unified Pension System (UPS), approved by the Union Cabinet on Saturday, is "fiscally prudent" as it will be funded within the Centre's fiscal projections, according to T V Somanathan, the Cabinet Secretary-designate. Speaking to Business Standard immediately after the Cabinet nod, former finance secretary Somanathan, who headed the committee set up in March 2023 to review the National Pension System (NPS), said the UPS will not postpone pension expenditure as it will be contributory and financed each year.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which won 25 seats in the Himachal Pradesh elections, suffered a setback in the assembly segments falling under Shimla, Hamirpur and Kangra parliamentary constituencies in the hill state.
Protests in Mumbai and Jammu denounce the Chinese government after Chinese soldiers clashed with Indian troops in Arunachal Pradesh.
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Gehlot accused Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating a new model in the country's politics of toppling elected governments through "horse trading", such as in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Manipur.
Infighting between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot has been out in the open throughout the Congress term.
An increase in the farmer income support scheme PM Kisan Nidhi, the introduction of a 'robot tax' to fund reskilling of people who lose their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), and a reduced income-tax (I-T) to bring relief to the middle classes - these are some of the items in the Budget wish list submitted by Sangh Parivar affiliates to Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman. Representatives of the affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), such as the farmer organisation Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS); trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS); Laghu Udyog Bharati, which works for micro and small industries; and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which works on economic and policy issues, met the FM and other officials over the last couple of weeks as part of the pre-Budget consultations.
