At its peak five years ago, it was a lifeline for 5.5 crore, or one in every three rural homes
The meetings with various ministries will go on till December 12, according to an office notice
About 4.41 lakh rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity and the government is closely monitoring the drought situation on a daily basis in 10 states, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Saturday.
The government has budgeted for total expenditure of Rs 34.83 lakh crore or 6.8 per cent of GDP. While the net tax revenue rose from Rs 5,75,697 crore in October 2020 to Rs 10,53,135 crore till October 2021, a growth of 82.93 per cent annualized, total expenditure rose only by 9.95 per cent, led by infra spending to Rs 18,26,725 crore from Rs 16,61,454 crore during the same period, the RBI said in the financial stability report.
What is the lure of a government job? The answer is India's worst kept secret: Job security. And among the many government jobs desperately sought after is in the armed forces. Which is why the riots by aspiring armed forces job seekers against the government's Agnipath scheme should not really be surprising, points out Harishchandra.
A whirlwind trip of the dark underbelly of global finance, covering everything from tax law changes to aiding criminals to decamp with money from bank accounts.
80% of the surveyed districts did not show any change in migration
By any economic theory or doctrine, this is no Budget that supports economic recovery, whether through supporting aggregate demand, or through expansionary stimulus, declares Rathin Roy.
Taking Narendra Modi head-on, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Gujarat government of offering Rs 40,000 crore worth of farmland at throw away prices to an industrialist while seeking higher rates from the Air Force.
Later, there may be some tax relief aimed at the middle class and measures to benefit the sectors worst hit by Covid-19 and the resultant nationwide lockdown.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon in Demchok sector, located 250 km east of Leh, where the work for linking a village with 'hot spring' was being undertaken under the MNREGA.
It also promised to launch the 'Poshane' scheme through which every BPL household will be provided with half litre 'Nandini' milk every day and five kg 'Shri Anna - siri dhanya' through monthly ration kits.
Gandhi also called upon the government to immediately put money into the hands of the poor and provide a financial package to the industry to help revive the economy.
The stimulus package announced by the government for the revival of the pandemic-hit economy has been found to be "inadequate", according to a Parliamentary panel report. The report of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector has noted that in the process of economic recovery post-first wave of the pandemic, the second wave has even more vigorously ripped the economy particularly the MSME sector. "The committee observes that the stimulus package announced by the government for the economic revival from the pandemic hit economy has been found to be inadequate as the measures adopted were more of loan offering and long-term measures instead of improving the cash flow to generate demand as immediate relief," it said.
'If we want to ensure this isn't a once-in-four-decade phenomenon, then we have to produce 1,800 players all the time, create infrastructure, so that we are constantly challenging at the top of the ladder.'
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the most pertinent question playing on the mind of every youngster -- will these sweeping changes being brought in the education system create better employment opportunity?
In a notification, the Union Home Ministry said an eligible beneficiary desirous of receiving the benefit under the 'Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian Victims/Family of Victims of Terrorist/Communal/LWE Violence and Cross Border Firing and Mine/IED Blasts on Indian Territory' is required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication.
Targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'failure' to bring back black money in 100 days after coming to power, former Bihar chief minister and senior Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar on Thursday asked the former to explain to the people of country about when the amount of Rs 15 lakh would be deposited in every bank account as promised by him.
Had Finance Minister Sitharaman thought a little more about the middle class, disadvantaged sections, and the poor who are struggling, it would have been an inclusive Budget that would have made history, notes Ramesh Menon.
The plan includes step-wise expansion of a crucial credit guarantee net, establishment of an unprecedented number of functional clusters and increased government procurement from MSMEs.
'The Jharkhand government is increasingly intolerant of voices of dissent.' 'Recently 20 persons, including activists, writers and academics, were booked for sedition.' 'Many of them have been critical of the government's apathy towards Adivasis,' notes Siraj Dutta.
Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party for its "politics of India Shining," Rahul Gandhi on Thursday reached out to the poor and rural youths in Bundelkhand, hard-selling the United Progressive Alliance's flagship schemes of food security, land acquisition and job guarantee programme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
The current estimate, however, largely covers only the cost of infrastructure such as pipes, construction of borewells, overhead costs among others and not the expenditure to be incurred on operation and maintenance.
The middle class is a big force to fulfil dreams of a prosperous and developed India and our government has taken many decisions to empower it, the prime minister said.
If the corruption issue doesn't claim Mr Baghel, the Congress's chances in the assembly election later this year are good, observes Aditi Phadnis.
80% of beneficiaries in 300 districts to be linked with direct benefits transfer
Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal are realising that it is not a cakewalk to run a full state that is plagued with a fiscal deficit and where emotions run high at the drop of a hat, observes Sudhir Bisht.
'Nobody is talking about the inequality that is going to come.'
A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
Sources said the rural development ministry has sought an additional Rs 20,000 crore for MGNREGA for 2019-20 over and above the budgeted Rs 60,000 crore for 2019-20. Though, all of the PM-KISAN savings may not be transferred to fund MNGREGA's extra needs, sources said a part of this could be transferred.
India's likely medium-term potential growth will almost certainly be markedly lower than that experienced in pre-pandemic years, warns Shankar Acharya, former chief economic advisor to the Government of India.
With organisations like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, which is a front of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, telling Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman they want OPS back, the government is in a bind, report Shiva Rajora and Aditi Phadnis.
The government last fiscal missed its direct tax collection target, and for this financial year it has set a higher revenue mobilisation goal of Rs 13.80 lakh crore.
To minise wasteful administrative costs, number of enterprises in strategic sectors will ordinarily be only one to four; others will be privatised/merged/brought under holding companies, she said.
The recent protests by employees of Urban Company and the case of a a Zomato delivery executive who died in a road accident point to the severely straitened condition of gig workers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Budget 2021 had promised several measures to help the cause of gig economy workers, but most of them are yet to see the light of day. Even after a year, the country's gig workers continue to be without any social security cover or a minimum wage guarantee. "In Budget 2021, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the government is looking toward including migrant and gig workers for social security benefits," says Srinivas Kotni, managing partner, Lexport, a consulting firm. Parliament had passed the Code on Wages in 2019 and Code on Industrial Relations, Social Security and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions in 2020.
Maharashtra has the opportunity to solve all these problems by voting for the Congress and NCP, he said.
'It is a clear dent on a lady's dignity and right of privacy guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.'
For states like West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, where migration is high, the return of workers could be as much an opportunity as a liability. All states have launched portals to register migrant workers; additional fields like nature of employment and remuneration in the past 2-3 years are being added to help in skill mapping.
It said the Congress will infuse new blood in leadership roles without creating new fault lines and cementing its ideological moorings.
