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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Official panel points to bid deficiencies in rural job guarantee, pensions, housing and other programmes.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh lays out the roadmap for rural growth --- without mincing words.
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.
Recent documents by NITI Aayog and periodic labour force surveys on employment show that the importance of agriculture is rising in the Indian economy.
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.
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.
'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.'
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.
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.
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.
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.
The need for a manufacturing policy, reining in food inflation and raising investment in the country were among key suggestions given by economists who met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior ministry officials in the first round of pre-Budget consultations on Friday.
Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on Friday visited Bastar in Chhattisgarh to understand the implementation of rural development schemes in the area.
Despite facing financial constraints, Kerala has been able to invest in welfare schemes and targeted programmes.
The much-awaited policy for mandatory rehabilitation of land owners displaced by industrial projects and SEZs might get delayed with the matter being referred to a Group of Ministers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party for allegedly neglecting the tribal community's contributions to India's freedom struggle during its 60-year rule. He spoke at an event marking Janjatiya Gaurav Divas and inaugurated development projects for tribal communities.
The chief minister pointed out that out of that figure, Rs 1,815 crore (Rs 18.15 billion) was a liability and not received from the Government of India.
The Union rural development ministry has recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into two separate cases of murder related to corruption and wage demands in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Jharkhand.
Timely payment under the MGNREGA is essential as it is a demand-driven scheme.
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
Instructions from the Union rural development ministry to the state officials on the WhatsApp group show that the chat was also used as an off-record avenue for the Union government to pass instructions, which it could not have done through formal channels, keeping the law in mind.
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
Public sector banks (PSBs) have seen a sharp drop in household deposits from 70.6 per cent to 63 per cent in contrast with private banks, which witnessed a surge from 27.1 per cent to 34.1 per cent.
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 statistics (compiled till May), presented and analysed by the Performance Review Committee of the ministry last week, show that states run by UPA governments have not made much advance in implementing its signature rural development schemes.
The controversial Land Acquisition Bill was on Thursday cleared by the Union Cabinet, making mandatory the consent of 80 per cent of people whose land is taken for private projects.
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