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.
The Centre has notified draft rules for the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, outlining the framework for the new rural employment programme replacing MGNREGA. The draft rules are open for public feedback until June 21, 2026.
The Centre has announced that the Viksit Bharat -- Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act will come into force across the country from July 1, replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
PMRDF is an excellent opportunity for committed young people to contribute to enhancing development and welfare of the people in rural and tribal areas of the country.
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.
Opposition members strongly opposed the proposed legislation at the introduction stage and pressed for sending the bill to a parliamentary panel for greater scrutiny. The MPs, including Priyanka Gandhi of the Congress, strongly objected to the "removal" of Mahatma Gandhi's name.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched two advanced weather forecast products developed under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), aimed at delivering hyper-local, impact-based and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven weather services across India.
President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, which aims to replace MGNREGA and guarantee 125 days of wage employment per rural household.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has accused the central government of providing 'VIP treatment' to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, criticising perceived double standards in dealing with crime.
A profile of Yumnam Khemchand Singh, the newly appointed Chief Minister of Manipur, highlighting his background in the RSS, his political career, and his association with Taekwondo.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has accused the central government of providing special treatment to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is accused in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case. Mann's criticism comes after Union Minister Amit Shah spoke about gang activities in Punjab.
Official panel points to bid deficiencies in rural job guarantee, pensions, housing and other programmes.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha emphasised the importance of harnessing sports as a force for social transformation at a national 'Chintan Shivir' in Srinagar. He highlighted the need for collaboration between schools, communities, and families to create ecosystems where young athletes can discover their potential, and urged for greater support and resources for physical education teachers in schools.
Nagaland Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla announced the state government's plans to form an interim council for the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) and highlighted key achievements and future priorities across various sectors during the Budget Session.
A bill to repeal the MGNREGA and introduce a new rural employment law, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), has been circulated among Lok Sabha members.
'Infertility and reproductive health challenges, much like other chronic conditions, are rising globally.'
Newly-appointed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has been allocated the portfolios of State Excise Duty, Sports and Youth Affairs and Minorities Development and Aukaf.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched indigenous robotic technologies, Project Vimana and Project Operion, designed to perform life-saving surgeries on the battlefield, potentially revolutionising emergency care for injured security personnel.
'The West Asia or the Gulf crisis has shown that what we develop as national infrastructure when things are not as bad as they could be, we forget to plan for adversities.'
As the March 31 deadline arrives, a wave of Maoist surrenders suggests insurgency's end, but political and social concerns remain.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Of the Rs 31,820.80 crore allocated to central sector schemes and projects, only Rs 11,868.05 crore was utilised, according to the revised estimates.
Recent documents by NITI Aayog and periodic labour force surveys on employment show that the importance of agriculture is rising in the Indian economy.
After a gap of more than three years, the central government has agreed to resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) works in West Bengal with immediate effect, but subject to mandatory adherence to stringent conditions. These include a prohibition on any work valued at more than 20 lakh, compulsory 100 per cent electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) verification of all workers, and mandatory pre-estimation field visits for all works before they are undertaken.
Ajit Pawar, who was the finance and planning minister, would have tabled his budget for 2026-27 next month when the state legislature's budget session begins in Mumbai on February 23.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
The orders issued this month have selected ministries ranging from home affairs under Amit Shah to rural development, headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, to move to Building 3 -- currently named CCS-03 -- on Kartavya Path. The scale of the shift will be even larger than when most of Lutyens' Delhi's present crop of government buildings came up in the early 1930s.
The agreement addresses non-tariff barriers and promotes increased trade in technology products and cooperation between the two countries.
'These children possess catastrophically low birth weights -- often 1.4 kgs or less. Such extremely low birth weight results in profoundly compromised neo-natal immunity.' 'The escalation to 97 deaths in three months precipitated contemporary attention precisely because this magnitude concentrates the humanitarian emergency, rendering it impossible for the administrative machinery to ignore.'
After the last Budget's announcement of a major tax relief for those earning an annual salary of less than Rs 12 lakh, there is not much that individuals can look forward to in the forthcoming Budget, points out A K Bhattacharya.
The Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2025-26, up from 6.5 per cent in the previous fiscal, mainly on account of better performance of manufacturing and services sectors, as per the government data released on Wednesday.
'There'll be extended periods where things aren't working in your favour. But if you believe in the cause profoundly, then you simply persevere.'
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has requested Sonia Gandhi to return Jawaharlal Nehru's documents to the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library, emphasizing their national significance. He also addressed the Aravalli Hills controversy and the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission.
Private-sector lender IndusInd Bank had said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) interacted with its officials this week and would send a written communication seeking specific details related to the accounting discrepancies identified at the bank.
The rural development ministry has come in direct conflict with the communications ministry, which has refused to accept its request for disbursing wages under the rural job scheme through post offices without charging any fee.
Enterprising women business correspondents, known as BC Sakhis, have facilitated transactions worth Rs 27,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, earning Rs 75 crore in commission over the past four and a half years. BC Sakhis, appointed under the nationwide women empowerment programme, are members of self-help groups (SHGs) who are trained and certified to provide banking and financial services in rural areas.
Opening up the corner office is fine, but will the government be able to attract talent without giving a market-rate salary?, asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kartavya Bhavan, the first of ten Common Central Secretariat buildings, aiming to consolidate ministries for improved efficiency. The building will house several key ministries, relocating them from older, outdated structures.
The bridge, constructed by the rural works department at a cost of Rs 10 crore, was not opened to the public as approach roads were yet to be constructed.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh lays out the roadmap for rural growth --- without mincing words.
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