Highlighting the the government's focus on providing power to all, Finance Minister Goyal said 2.5 crore families were without electricity in 2014 and "we have provided power to almost all families".
The total expenditure on the MGNREGA programme, as per the revised estimates from 2025-26, was Rs 88,000 crore, while initially, a sum of Rs 86,000 crore was allocated.
The Union government on Tuesday gave formal clearance to upgrade 2,803 km of roads in Gujarat at a cost of Rs 992 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
Faced with huge cost overruns due to a delay in building the rural roads under Bharat Nirman, the Planning Commission is now looking at alternative ways to fund the ambitious rural development project of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.The rural road project, christened the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), has seen tardy performance on the target of constructing 146,185 km of rural roads by 2009.
The new project will concentrate on the states of Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, the Bank said.
The Centre has convened a meeting of Secretaries of Rural Development of 13 states where progress in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has been slow, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Agri experts are meeting FinMin ministry officials on Monday to give their inputs on the Budget.
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.
These houses will have amenities such as LPG, electricity and toilets, she said.
It would involve constructing over 125,000 kilometres of roads and would form part of the third phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
Official death toll due to the cyclonic storm has been pegged at 21, nearly 12 million people affected.
Sitharaman said the government also proposes Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana to address critical infrastructure gap in fisheries sector.
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 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.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday assured the people of her parliamentary segment that she would take up their problems regarding poor supply of power and drinking water with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had to intervene to control a "big fight" in Union Cabinet meeting between Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday, over serious differences on Assam and Jammu-Kashmir getting extra grants from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget proposals lay out a comprehensive road map for transforming India into a developed nation, focusing on key priorities that aim to generate ample opportunities for all citizens in "Viksit Bharat". It sets the stage for sustained economic growth, social development, and technological advancement.
Since the onset of the monsoon on June 24, 217 persons have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh.
A youth shot the video of the trek of the pregnant woman on his mobile phone and posted it on social media, saying he wanted to highlight the misery suffered by people of the tribal villages.
From the word go, Bihar growled its needs out when an MP from the state said aloud: "Give something for Bihar also, Madam." Every time the Budget mentioned cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh, "Kursi Bachao" was the call from Congress MPs.
Jaitley said an effective multi-modal logistics and transport system will "make our economy more competitive.
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The highest ever average daily construction rate of 130 km has been achieved for rural roads
Modi govt faces extra spending burden due to policies like 7th Pay Commission and OROP
According to BJP strategists, PMJAY and the PM Ujjwala Yojana will form the nucleus of the Modi government's re-election campaign.
The focus is likely to be on consolidation and improvement of existing rural-centric programmes to ensure their completion ahead of the next general elections in 2019, rather than announcement of new schemes. Sanjeeb Mukherjee and Arup Roychoudhury report.
Terming infrastructure as the "backbone" of any nation's development, Goyal while presenting the interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha said India aspires to be a USD 10 trillion economy in the next eight years, and on the anvil is next generation infrastructure of roads, railways, seaports, airports, urban transport, gas and electric transmission and inland waterways.
Economist Arvind Panagariya is the vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, while economist Bibek Debroy and scientist V K Saraswat are the two full-time members of the Aayog.
Centre, states to share the amount in 60:40 ratio to link unconnected rural habitations and upgrade existing roads till 2020
He said the people of the state took a historic decision in 2003 by removing the government of "Mr Bantadhar", apparently referring to senior Congress leader and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh.
Naidu was an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist during the Emergency and was arrested and jailed.
India is only on the starting block.
The winter session of Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Tuesday after passing 18 legislations, including amendment bills on amend coal mines allocation and labour laws, in 22 sittings.
Official panel points to bid deficiencies in rural job guarantee, pensions, housing and other programmes.
'The BJP has everything to lose if it performs poorly in UP. It dreads a repeat of Bihar,' says Rajeev Sharma.
Low consumer demand, a slide in investments and troubles in the banking sector should prompt the government to recalibrate taxes and expenditure. It is also important to ramp up spending on health care and education, says CII president Sumit Mazumder.
False and acrimonious debates such as Modi versus Manmohan might allow for victories that are political and partisan. But the real loser is the nation, India and Bharat, notes Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic advisor to the Modi government in its first term.
"India's middle class, small traders and farmers are the lifelines of its economic growth. By catering to these ambitions #Budget2019 infuses hopes for millions of dreams."
The savings would be better spent and might actually reach the poor, says Rahul Khullar.
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