Farmers expect this government to take a radical break from all its earlier Budgets. File
| Photo Credit: MUSTAFAH KK

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance faced huge setbacks in the Lok Sabha elections in the agrarian belts of the country. The BJP lost in at least 38 seats in five States where the farmers’ movement against the policies of the Narendra Modi government was strong. This government is a continuation of the first two Narendra Modi regimes that favoured the corporate houses and tweaked policies in the agriculture sector in their favour.

Farmers expect that this government make a radical break from all its earlier Budgets. Of course, this is asking for a tall order. But unless that is done, the farmers’ unrest and agrarian crisis are not going to subside. The National Crime Records Bureau’s data tells us that 1,00,474 farmers and agricultural workers committed suicide between 2015 and 2022. This figure is growing and is a tragic indication of India’s agrarian crisis.

The most important issue for farmers in the country today is statutory minimum support price at the rate of C2+50%, that is one and a half times of the comprehensive cost of production, as recommended by the M.S. Swaminathan Commission. This was a promise made by Narendra Modi and the BJP manifesto in 2014. Now, they are silent on this. Unless that’s done, it’s going to be impossible even to begin to resolve the agrarian crisis. They will have to make Budgetary provisions to implement this. This is our first demand. But to do this, they will have to hold discussions with farmers’ movements. There have been no such discussions.

The second point is about the rising cost of production. Our expectation from this year’s Budget is that the government bring down production costs by reducing prices of fertilizers, seeds, insecticides, diesel, water and electricity. Rates of all these inputs are going up. Even if farmers are to be given MSP at C2+50%, the cost of production must be brought down. A statutory MSP at a rate of C2+50% may have no meaning if the costs of production are not brought down.

The government can bring down these prices by having a strict control through the Budget on the corporates who are now part of the production process of these inputs. Earlier, most of these inputs were produced by the public sector. The Budget must support public sector companies to continue to be engaged in the production of fertilizers, insecticides and seeds. This government talks of self-reliance, but does nothing to improve self-reliance. This is apparent in the case of fertilizers.

The third expectation from this Budget is a complete one-time loan waiver for farmers and agricultural workers nationwide. Unless this is done, farm suicides cannot be prevented. This government has written off loans worth ₹16 lakh crore of corporates. And, they say they don’t have money to waive loans of farmers. Loan waiver, bringing down the cost of production and ensuring MSP at a rate of C2+50 must be done together. If this is done, 70% of the crisis in the farm sector can be dealt with.

The fourth point is relevant in the context of climate change. In light of regular droughts, floods, unseasonal rains and hailstorms, there must be a comprehensive crop insurance scheme, which is totally different from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Several States have opted out of it. Some States have begun their own scheme. This is because PMFBY is working in the interest of insurance companies, and not farmers. Budgetary provision must be made for a comprehensive scheme that helps farmers.

The fifth point is on the question of irrigation and power. Public sector investment in irrigation and power has been cut in the last decade. These sectors are being handed over to private companies and hence, the cost of water and power is rising. The private sector cannot invest the monies a government can, for example, in building dams. The question of irrigation must be addressed by the Union government. A number of irrigation projects are incomplete nationwide. If they are completed, a large section of land will come under irrigation. So, the Budget must make provisions to complete these irrigation projects.

In the power sector too, unless there is public investment, it will be difficult to ensure steady supply of electricity. Power production is also now under the control of corporate houses. Smart meters are going to create havoc for all consumers, both rural and urban. The government had agreed to hold a discussion on Electricity Act amendments. But no discussions have been held so far.

The sixth point is about the expansion of MGNREGA. Ever since the Modi Government came to power, they have been trying to starve MGNREGA of funds. The number of work days has come down to just 42. The government must increase wages to ₹600 and the number of work days to at least 200. It is a lifeline for rural workers and it will be a step to increase their purchasing power.

The seventh point, which is very important, is the question of land. The government has changed the slogan of ‘Land to the Tiller’ to ‘Land to the Corporates’. In total violation of the Land Acquisition Act, there is massive acquisition of farm lands by corporate houses. Tribal lands are being taken by the government without any compensation for mining and other purposes. Land acquisition must be done only when strictly necessary for public purposes. Radical land reforms must be initiated and completed.

To raise resources for all this, the Union government must impose wealth tax and inheritance tax. They have tremendously reduced corporate tax. They must restore it. India is a country with one of the least rates of corporate taxes. Income tax slabs also must be changed to ensure the rich pay more. They are reducing income tax across the board, instead of providing relief to the middle class. Direct taxes must be increased and indirect taxes must be reduced and tax evasion must be stopped using stringent methods.

(Dr. Ashok Dhawale is a senior leader of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and President of the All India Kisan Sabha.)

Farmers expect this government to take a radical break from all its earlier Budgets. File
| Photo Credit: K.K. Mustafah

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance faced huge setbacks in the Lok Sabha elections in the agrarian belts of the country. The BJP lost in at least 38 seats in five States where the farmers’ movement against the policies of the Narendra Modi government was strong. This government is a continuation of the first two Narendra Modi regimes that favoured the corporate houses and tweaked policies in the agriculture sector in their favour.

Farmers expect that this government make a radical break from all its earlier Budgets. Of course, this is asking for a tall order. But unless that is done, the farmers’ unrest and agrarian crisis are not going to subside. The National Crime Records Bureau’s data tells us that 1,00,474 farmers and agricultural workers committed suicide between 2015 and 2022. This figure is growing and is a tragic indication of India’s agrarian crisis.

The most important issue for farmers in the country today is statutory minimum support price at the rate of C2+50%, that is one and a half times of the comprehensive cost of production, as recommended by the M.S. Swaminathan Commission. This was a promise made by Narendra Modi and the BJP manifesto in 2014. Now, they are silent on this. Unless that’s done, it’s going to be impossible even to begin to resolve the agrarian crisis. They will have to make Budgetary provisions to implement this. This is our first demand. But to do this, they will have to hold discussions with farmers’ movements. There have been no such discussions.

The second point is about the rising cost of production. Our expectation from this year’s Budget is that the government bring down production costs by reducing prices of fertilizers, seeds, insecticides, diesel, water and electricity. Rates of all these inputs are going up. Even if farmers are to be given MSP at C2+50%, the cost of production must be brought down. A statutory MSP at a rate of C2+50% may have no meaning if the costs of production are not brought down.

The government can bring down these prices by having a strict control through the Budget on the corporates who are now part of the production process of these inputs. Earlier, most of these inputs were produced by the public sector. The Budget must support public sector companies to continue to be engaged in the production of fertilizers, insecticides and seeds. This government talks of self-reliance, but does nothing to improve self-reliance. This is apparent in the case of fertilizers.

The third expectation from this Budget is a complete one-time loan waiver for farmers and agricultural workers nationwide. Unless this is done, farm suicides cannot be prevented. This government has written off loans worth ₹16 lakh crore of corporates. And, they say they don’t have money to waive loans of farmers. Loan waiver, bringing down the cost of production and ensuring MSP at a rate of C2+50 must be done together. If this is done, 70% of the crisis in the farm sector can be dealt with.

The fourth point is relevant in the context of climate change. In light of regular droughts, floods, unseasonal rains and hailstorms, there must be a comprehensive crop insurance scheme, which is totally different from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Several States have opted out of it. Some States have begun their own scheme. This is because PMFBY is working in the interest of insurance companies, and not farmers. Budgetary provision must be made for a comprehensive scheme that helps farmers.

The fifth point is on the question of irrigation and power. Public sector investment in irrigation and power has been cut in the last decade. These sectors are being handed over to private companies and hence, the cost of water and power is rising. The private sector cannot invest the monies a government can, for example, in building dams. The question of irrigation must be addressed by the Union government. A number of irrigation projects are incomplete nationwide. If they are completed, a large section of land will come under irrigation. So, the Budget must make provisions to complete these irrigation projects.

In the power sector too, unless there is public investment, it will be difficult to ensure steady supply of electricity. Power production is also now under the control of corporate houses. Smart meters are going to create havoc for all consumers, both rural and urban. The government had agreed to hold a discussion on Electricity Act amendments. But no discussions have been held so far.

The sixth point is about the expansion of MGNREGA. Ever since the Modi Government came to power, they have been trying to starve MGNREGA of funds. The number of work days has come down to just 42. The government must increase wages to ₹600 and the number of work days to at least 200. It is a lifeline for rural workers and it will be a step to increase their purchasing power.

The seventh point, which is very important, is the question of land. The government has changed the slogan of ‘Land to the Tiller’ to ‘Land to the Corporates’. In total violation of the Land Acquisition Act, there is massive acquisition of farm lands by corporate houses. Tribal lands are being taken by the government without any compensation for mining and other purposes. Land acquisition must be done only when strictly necessary for public purposes. Radical land reforms must be initiated and completed.

To raise resources for all this, the Union government must impose wealth tax and inheritance tax. They have tremendously reduced corporate tax. They must restore it. India is a country with one of the least rates of corporate taxes. Income tax slabs also must be changed to ensure the rich pay more. They are reducing income tax across the board, instead of providing relief to the middle class. Direct taxes must be increased and indirect taxes must be reduced and tax evasion must be stopped using stringent methods.

(Dr. Ashok Dhawale is a senior leader of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and President of the All India Kisan Sabha.)

New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached four immovable properties having a value of Rs 22.47 lakh belonging to Shashi Prakash and Jai Kishore Chaudhary (both Executive Engineers) in case of the MGNREGA scam in Jharkhand.

According to ED, this is the fourth provisional attachment order issued in the case.

The total properties worth Rs 106.86 crore, including this provisional order, have been attached/ seized till date in the subject case.

The probe agency had initiated an investigation on the basis of 16 FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police in reference to embezzlement of Rs 18 crore in MGNREGA work in Jharkhand’s Khunti district.

“Further, a chargesheet filed by Jharkhand Police revealed that Junior Engineer RBP Sinha, Assistant Engineer R.K. Jain (now deceased), Shashi Prakash and Jai Kishore Chaudhary, both executive engineers, were involved in the combined embezzlement of Rs 18.06 crore,” it said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Earlier, ED had conducted several searches under the provisions of PMLA on May 6, 2022, at the premises related to these engineers and also at the premises related to IAS Pooja Singhal, the then DC of Khunti district, during which huge cash of Rs 19.58 crore was recovered and seized.

“Further, three persons namely Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, Pooja Singhal and CA Suman Kumar have been arrested in this case and three prosecution complaints have already been filed against Sinha, Singhal, Abhishek Jha, Jai Kishore Chaudhary, R.K. Jain (deceased), Shashi Prakash and CA Kumar before the Special (PMLA) Court, Ranchi wherein trial is under progress,” it added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh, requesting to release the funds under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

“The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is one of the important Schemes for providing employment opportunity to all registered households in the rural areas and is the only scheme providing livelihood opportunity to rural people as well as create durable and sustainable rural assets to improve the Village infrastructure and fulfills the demand of rural people to a great level,” MK Stalin said in a letter.

Tamil Nadu has always been a top-performing state in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS under various parameters. In Tamil Nadu, 92.86 lakh households have been issued with Job Cards. Out of that, nearly 91.52 Lakh workers pertaining to 76.15 lakh households are actively participating in the MGNREGS works regularly, the letter said.

As agriculture in Tamil Nadu is heavily dependent on rains from the Southwest Monsoon and cyclonic rains from the Northeast Monsoon, vagary in any one of the above monsoons leads to higher demand for MGNREGS works, it said.

“I would like to reiterate that MGNREGS is considered as an important livelihood opportunity in rural areas for many like elderly people, destitute women, women-headed households, differently abled workers and additional livelihood opportunity for many in rural households, especially during lean agricultural season, ” according to the Chief Minister’s letter.

In particular, women empowerment has been realized by the MGNREGS as the majority workforce is women and credit of wages to their bank account has greatly improved their finances, the Chief Minister said.

During the year 2023-2024, the original demand made by Tamil Nadu is 40 crore person-days. So far, the Government of India has approved 28 crore person-days. Up to October 23, Tamil Nadu has achieved 31.15 crore person-days, by providing employment to 76.06 lakh workers pertaining to 66.26 lakh households, he said.

“In the financial Year 2023-24, Rs 4,903.25 crore has been released by the Government of India for the unskilled wages to the workers up to July 19. Subsequently, on September 25, a sum of Rs 1,755.43 crore was sanctioned by the Government of India for the payment of unskilled wages. However, out of the sanctioned amount, only Rs 418.233 crore seemed to have been released partially, leaving a balance of Rs 1,337.20 crore yet to be credited into the accounts of workers. Further liability of Rs 1,359.57 crore for the wages for the subsequent weeks also not released yet. Thus, as on October 20, the wage liability for the workers in Tamil Nadu had accumulated to Rs 2,696.77 crore,” the letter stated.

“I visited Kattankulathur Panchayat Union in Chengalpattu District on October 17. During the above visit, both the public and public representatives made a plea for the release of unpaid wages under MGNREGS to the workers immediately in view of the ensuing festive season. A similar request was received by me during my visit to Tiruvannamalai District as well.

“In view of the foregoing, I request that the total wage liability amount of Rs 2,696.77 crore be released to Tamil Nadu immediately. Further, additional funds may also be released to unskilled workers regularly. I look forward to your personal intervention in this regard,” the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said in the letter.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Additional allocations will be sanctioned for the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the finance ministry has assured there will be no shortage, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh has said, dismissing criticisms of the flagship programme not being given sufficient funds.

In an interview with PTI, the minister also alleged large-scale corruption under the scheme in West Bengal. Asked if the Centre will undertake any probe, Mr Singh replied in the affirmative but did not elaborate on the nature of the probe.

“The MGNREGS is a demand-driven scheme, everyone knows that,” he said, adding: “The Union finance ministry has sanctioned additional funds for it.”

Sources in the finance ministry have said additional funds of Rs 28,000 crore have been sanctioned for the MGNREGS which would be cleared in the next Parliament session. The allocation for the MGNREGS in the 2023-23 Budget was Rs 60,000 crore.

Accusing the opposition of creating confusion over the flagship rural employment scheme, Mr Singh said, “Mr Kharge (Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge) and other opposition leaders create confusion… The truth is that 2,644 crore person days of work have been generated during the last nine years and more than Rs 6.63 lakh crore released as central share, which is three times the allocations made during the UPA regime.”

He further said that under the MGNREGS, 48 per cent were women workers during the UPA government. Now, that has gone up to 55 per cent, he added.

Asked about the recent large-scale deletions of names from the MGNREGS rolls, the minister said, “Some people may have died, so their job cards were deleted, but not everyone could have died….” The department has been directed to look into the reasons for the deletions, he said.

According to figures provided by the Rural Development Ministry in reply to a question in Parliament, more than 5.18 crore workers were deleted from the MGNREGS rolls in 2022-23. In 2021-22, more than 1.49 crore workers were struck off the MGNREGS rolls.

The states that saw a high number of deletion of workers include Andhra Pradesh (over 78 lakh), Bihar (over 76 lakh), Odisha (over 77 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (over 62 lakh) and West Bengal (over 83 lakh).

Asked about the pending payments for West Bengal, the minister alleged that there is large-scale corruption in the scheme in the state.

“A loot is going on…” Mr Singh alleged, adding, “In the name of MGNREGS work, they will write that a bund has been constructed. When it is inspected, they say it was washed away in floods…”

Commenting on a protest by TMC MPs in the rural development ministry after Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti did not meet a delegation of around 40 party representatives on October 3, the minister claimed that the MoS waited till 8.30 pm and the TMC delegation was too big.

“They wanted to create a scene,” he alleged.

TMC leaders were forcefully evicted from Krishi Bhawan by security personnel and detained while they were protesting on the premises on October 3. The party’s leaders alleged they were manhandled by the security personnel.

On the pending payments of those who have already worked under the MGNREGS in West Bengal, the Union minister said there is a state government and they should pay. “We are investigating the matter,” he added.

According to a written reply by MoS Niranjan Jyoti in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session, Rs 2,770 crore was pending under the wage component for West Bengal.

The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has accused the BJP-led NDA government of withholding Rs 15,000 crore in dues to the state under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the PM Awas Yojana.

Asked if he had any meeting with West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose or other representatives from the state, the minister said a dossier has been sent by the governor which is being examined by the ministry.

On the achievements of his ministry, Mr Singh said the empowerment of women through schemes is ushering in a change.

“Empowering women through government schemes is the biggest achievement of the Rural Development Ministry… PM Modi has promised two crore ‘Lakhpati Didis’. We will achieve the target before March 2024,” he said.

Under the scheme, skill development training will be provided to 2 crore women to encourage them to start micro-enterprises, he added.

Commenting on the Lok Sabha polls next year, the minister, who is an MP from Begusarai in Bihar, said the Opposition alliance INDIA was not a challenge to the BJP and also expressed confidence that his party would win the upcoming assembly polls in five states.

“INDIA alliance will make no difference, especially in Bihar. The people of Bihar love PM Modi. Who is the PM candidate of this alliance? Is it Rahul Gandhi, or Mamata Banerjee … Nitish Kumar or Uddhav Thackeray? Would they all be PM for a month, or for a year… This is an opportunistic alliance,” he said.

“We will win all five states. The Congress is busy with infighting in Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan, they have already said they are not sure of winning… In Chhattisgarh, the Bhupesh Baghel government has been exposed. I am confident the BJP will win all states,” Mr Singh said.

Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana will go to the polls next month.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A flood affected locality at Singtam, in Gangtok district, Wednesday, October. 4, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI

10 dead, 22 army men among 82 missing as flash flood wreaks havoc in Sikkim; PM Modi dials CM

At least ten people died and 80 others, including 22 army personnel, went missing on Wednesday after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim triggered a flash flood in the Teesta River basin, officials said. All 10 who died have been identified as civilians including 3 of the dead who were washed up in north Bengal, they said adding that one of the 23 army men who had gone missing in the morning was rescued later.

UAPA case against NewsClick for plot to disrupt sovereignty of India: police

A day after the Delhi Police arrested Prabir Purkayastha, founder and Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick, and Amit Chakraborty, Human Resources head of the news portal, a government source told The Hindu that the police were investigating a “terror case that has Chinese links.” The foreign remittances received by the news portal are already being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) since 2021. The source said that the fresh terror case registered by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police was being investigated by multiple agencies.

NewsClick raids | Media bodies write to CJI, call for norms on interrogation of journalists

Over a dozen media bodies on Wednesday sought Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud’s intervention on the issue of raids against those linked to NewsClick, a digital news platform. Media persons and activists also turned up in large numbers at the Press Club of India to protest the police action. In a letter to the Chief Justice, the media organisations urged the courts to consider framing norms to discourage the seizure of journalists’ phones and laptops on a “whim”; and to develop guidelines for the interrogation of journalists and for seizures from them, to ensure that “these are not undertaken as fishing expeditions with no bearing to an actual offence”.

With Bihar caste survey, Nitish Kumar has set the national agenda, says JD(U) chief

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has set the national agenda ahead of the 2024 general election with the caste survey conducted in the State, Janata Dal (United)‘s Rajiv Ranjan Singh said on Wednesday. In an interview with The Hindu, he also criticised the BJP for alleging large-scale irregularities in the survey’s data collection process during an all-party meeting in Patna on Tuesday. 

Batches of India-manufactured syrups for cough, allergic rhinitis found contaminated: CDSCO

At least five batches of syrups for cough and allergic rhinitis of two Indian manufacturers — one Gujarat-based and one Tamil Nadu-based — have been found to contain higher than permissible levels of contaminants — diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, as per a recent report released by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Previously the World Health Organisation (WHO) too had issued alerts on contamination in cold-cough syrups exported by India and said these two contaminants were found in the drug.

Activists call for defeat of BJP to save MGNREGA from neglect

MGNREGA Sangharsh Morcha, a collective of workers, activists and academics have called for the defeat of the BJP government in the 2024 general elections to save the MGNREGS scheme. The various groups had just concluded their two-day national convention where the state of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was discussed.

New defence indigenisation list has futuristic weapons, systems

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday released the fifth Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) of 98 items which will be procured by the three armed services from indigenous suppliers in a staggered manner as per specified timelines. He also released the Indian Navy’s updated indigenisation roadmap, named Swavlamban 2.0.

Akshata Murty makes U.K. political stage debut for ‘best friend’ PM Sunak

Britain’s Indian First Lady, Akshata Murty, made a surprise debut on the political stage on October 4 when she stepped out to introduce “best friend” Rishi Sunak for his maiden speech as U.K. Prime Minister to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.

Former Russian journalist sentenced in absentia for Ukraine war criticism

A court in Moscow on Wednesday handed a former state TV journalist an 8 1/2-year prison term in absentia for protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine, the latest in a months-long crackdown against dissent that has intensified since Moscow’s invasion 20 months ago. Marina Ovsyannikova was charged with spreading false information about the Russian army, a criminal offense under a law adopted shortly after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine. 

Nepal town imposes lockdown and beefs up security to prevent clashes between Hindus and Muslims

Despite quickly escalating tensions between Hindus and Muslims, the night passed peacefully after a lockdown was imposed and security heightened in a city in southwest Nepal, officials said. Trouble began in the regional hub city of Nepalgunj over the weekend after a Hindu boy posted a status about Muslims on social media. Muslims protested the status inside the region’s main government administrator’s office building, burned tires on the streets and blocked traffic.

Lawyers of Imran Khan in Pakistan oppose his closed-door trial over revealing official secrets

Lawyers for Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday opposed his closed-door trial in a case in which he is accused of revealing state secrets after his 2022 ouster, saying it’s aimed at convicting the popular opposition leader quickly.

Moratorium under IBC to exempt aircraft and engines, govt. notifies

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Tata Group to focus on coffee as core business category for future

Tata Group plans to intensify its focus on branded coffee as part of its strategy of “building core categories for the future.” Tea and salts have so far been Tata’s core categories and the company said it was currently in the process of building more core categories for the future and coffee was clearly a prominent one.

Asian Games | Why did so many decisions go wrong, questions Neeraj

Never before has Neeraj Chopra questioned officiating in any meet at any level. The Olympic and World Champion has preferred to let his performance do the talking so when he says “gadbad to hai” it speaks volumes about the level of officiating in athletics at the Asian Games.

Asian Games | Neeraj defends title, quartermilers take gold as India manages best-ever medal haul in athletics

Neeraj Chopra defended his Asian Games title with a season’s best throw of 88.88m and Kishore Kumar Jena managed a personal best of 87.54m as India completed a one-two in javelin but not before both got the short end of dodgy officiating as India finished the track & field assignments here with a best-ever haul of 29 medals including six on Wednesday – two golds and four silvers – for second spot on the table by numbers.

New Delhi:

Trinamool Congress party workers have gathered at the Rajghat in Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti and held a protest against the central government alleging a lack of fund allocation for MGNREGA and other social security schemes for West Bengal.

On Tuesday, the TMC workers are likely to hold a protest against the central government for what it claimed was the the centre’s failure in disbursement of funds to the state for MGNREGA, AWAS Yojana and other central government schemes.

The TMC had alleged that there were several attempts to block the protest by declining permissions, and cancelling trains and flights who were trying to converge in the national capital. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee shared that the permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar was given verbally and written permission was still pending.

“Section 144 has been imposed in that area (Jantar Mantar),” he had asserted earlier.

Mr Banerjee was summoned by the ED on Oober 3, the day it had planned for the demonstration of protest in Delhi, in connection with the ongoing investigation into the cash-for-school job scam.

Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Susmita Dev hit out at the central government over the refusal to provide special trains to MGNREGA job cardholders from West Bengal to reach Delhi and said that they were ready for the fight.

Ahead of the TMC worker’s protest in Delhi, Party leader Susmita Dev said, “BJP has practically declared war on the people of Bengal who want to come to Delhi to protest for their rightful dues from the Union government on October 2 and 3. First, they summoned National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee through the ED. Now, since he is determined to come to Delhi, they have refused to give special trains for the people of Bengal to reach Delhi…The people of Bengal have met this challenge by getting into buses and coming by road which is going to take them very long but they are ready for the fight.”

Susmita Dev further said that many of the public representatives from Bengal had booked a flight to reach Delhi.

She said, “A well-known airline like Vistara where 120 people were due to travel to Delhi to join the protest but now without any explanation Vistara airlines has cancelled that entire flight in which TMC leaders were coming. It is clear that the BJP realises it is unprecedented for the people of Bengal to come to Delhi to protest against the Union government. They will not let it succeed but you can see on social media that thousands of people are coming on buses. People will reach Delhi anyhow under the leadership of CM Mamata Banerjee and General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.”

Thousands of MGNREGA job cardholders from West Bengal had left for the national capital, in several buses arranged by Trinamool Congress (TMC), for the protest.

The protesters, under the banner of ‘Dilli Cholo: A fight for our rights!’, intended to raise their voices for the payment of arrears for 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Working under MGNREGS: Women workers begin desilting work as part of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) at Nidigattu village near Bheemunipatnam in Visakhapatnam district on April 23, 2020
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR

From being called a “living monument of failure” to “digging holes,” the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has long been subject to harsh criticism by the ruling dispensation. While the NDA government hasn’t done away with the UPA’s legacy scheme, payment delays, technological imposition and paucity of funds have left the programme in a state of disrepair.

For instance, the Centre is yet to clear wages worth thousands of crores in West Bengal and Rajasthan. The recently introduced Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS) will impact close to 80% of workers in Maharashtra who are yet to complete the relevant formalities. Also, the Budget allocated to the scheme was slashed by 33% for FY24.

Despite the steep cut, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh recently claimed that the allocations were higher than what was given during the UPA regime. Chart 1 shows that the allocation formed only 1.3% of the total budget in FY24, the lowest-ever. The share peaked at 3.4% in FY09.

Chart appears incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

From February 1, 2023, payments to MGNREGS beneficiaries were to be made only through ABPS. However, as on February 20, only 44% of the total workers in India were eligible for ABPS. In 14 States, more than 50% of workers were not eligible. In Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, where more than 2 crore workers each are enrolled under the scheme, over 60% were not eligible. Chart 2 shows the State-wise share of workers who were not eligible for receiving payments through ABPS as on February 20. States have been divided into four categories based on the number of workers enrolled in MGNREGS.

Rajendran Narayanan, a faculty member at Azim Premji University, said, “Till the workers link their job cards and bank accounts with Aadhaar, they will not be allowed to take up MGNREGA work. That can have serious consequences because it takes time to do this process and this is the peak season of MGNREGA. Also, rectifying errors in the Aadhaar-based payments is nearly impossible for the workers and field officials.”

MGNREGS also suffers from inordinate delays in payment of wages. The payment process has two stages. Stage 1, which is the States’ responsibility, involves creating a Funds Transfer Order with worker details. This is sent in digital format to the Centre. Stage 2, which is the Centre’s responsibility, involves processing the Funds Transfer Orders and transferring the wages to the worker’s account. Chart 3 shows the wages (in Rs. crore) that were not yet processed by the States and the wages that were yet to be cleared by the Centre as on February 25. For instance, in Rajasthan, nearly Rs. 78 crore or 1.5% of total transactions is yet to be processed at the State level, while the Centre is yet to clear dues worth Rs. 1,138 crore or 18% of all transactions. In West Bengal, close to 98% of transactions worth Rs. 2,897 crore are pending with the Centre.

Further, several States such as West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Nagaland are running negative balances with payments pending for wages and material. This makes it difficult for them to take up new work. At the same time, they have pending payments ranging from Rs. 200 crore to over Rs. 1,000 crore. In Gujarat, Telangana, Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, while the existing balance is positive, the pending payments far exceed the balance, which if cleared, will push the States into negative territory. Chart 4 shows balance remaining with States and payments that are due in Rs. crore.

Source: MIS reports, budget documents and the Ministry of Rural Development

nihalani.j@thehindu.co.in

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If budget making is a complex task, interpreting the Union Budget can be hazardous given the amount of fine print that one has to pore over. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s fifth Budget, and the current Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s final full-fledged one before next year’s general election, ticks all the right boxes on the face of it. Inclusive development that ensures prosperity for all, especially the youth, women, farmers, Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, a focus on infrastructure and investment that serves as a multiplier for growth and employment, policies to enable green or environmentally sustainable growth, the rationalisation of direct taxes, including a raft of concessions to the middle and salaried classes, and pensioners, and, most importantly, doing all this while staying the course on fiscal consolidation. Terming it the “first Budget in Amrit Kaal”, Ms. Sitharaman sounded the poll bugle by emphasising the ruling dispensation’s achievements since 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi first assumed office. Per capita income, she said, had more than doubled to ₹1.97 lakh as a result of the economy’s growth to being the world’s fifth-largest and the government’s efforts to ensure a better quality of living for all. She also cited an increase in formalisation of the economy and the widespread adoption of digital technologies, especially in the payments sphere, as other significant achievements.

With an eye on ‘India at 100’, the Budget proposals, Ms. Sitharaman said, were aimed at actualising a “technology-driven and knowledge-based economy with strong public finances, and a robust financial sector”. Emphasising that the economic agenda for achieving this vision would, among other things, require a focus on giving a strong impetus to growth and job creation, the Minister laid out her Budget proposals that were heavy on this government’s trademark acronyms describing the various schemes, but relatively light on details. PM VIKAS or Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman, for instance, would for the first time offer traditional artisans and craftspeople, or Vishwakarmas, a package of assistance aimed at helping them improve the quality, scale and reach of their products, she said. Specifics, including a financial outlay and the likely mechanics of implementation, were, however, not spelt out. Similarly, a ‘Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes’ or ‘MISHTI’, aimed at undertaking mangrove plantation along the coastline and on salt pan lands leaves the funding to a “convergence between MGNREGS and a compensatory afforestation fund”. With the rural sector’s mainstay employment guarantee scheme, one that was introduced during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s term, itself increasingly being starved of budgetary support, it is hard to fathom how the new initiative to protect and regenerate the ecologically sensitive mangroves will be funded. The decrease in outlay comes at a time when the rural economy is still to regain vigour from the ravages of the pandemic, the fallout on incomes from the uneven distribution of last year’s monsoon rainfall, and the relatively greater impact of high food inflation on hinterland households.

At a broader level, the Budget estimate for expenditure on rural development in 2023-24 is pegged at ₹2.38 lakh crore, a marginal 0.1 percentage point increase when measured as a proportion of overall expenditure at 5.3%, compared with the 5.2% in the previous Budget Estimate. When viewed against the revised estimate, the outlay is a good 0.6 percentage point lower. Food subsidy too has been sharply pared: at ₹1.97 lakh crore, it is almost 5% lower than the 2022-23 Budget estimate and a steep 31% down from the revised estimate. To be sure, the government’s resolve to stay the course on fiscal consolidation, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic had led it to spend more even as revenue receipts dipped amid the unprecedented economic contraction, left Ms. Sitharaman with little leeway on the expenditure front once she had decided that the government would concentrate its resources on increased public outlays on infrastructure and investment. Capital expenditure has been allocated ₹10 lakh crore, a 33% jump from this fiscal’s Budget estimate. If one adds the almost ₹3.7 lakh crore set aside for grants-in-aid to States for the creation of capital assets, the Minister’s laudable intent to apply the force multiplier of government capital spending as the primary lever to spur economic activity becomes clearly evident. With global demand uncertain this year on account of the slowdown in the developed economies, as the Economic Survey pertinently pointed out, India’s domestic market will necessarily have to serve as the economy’s bulwark. Ms. Sitharaman has also attempted to woo the middle class with a raft of changes in personal income tax that would, in combination with tweaks to customs duties, in total cost the government ₹ 37,000 crore in foregone direct tax revenue. Some of these changes are aimed at leaving more money in the hands of the salaried and pensioners, cash that the Budget planners hope would find its way back either as savings or increased spending on vital consumption. The biggest beneficiaries of the income-tax changes though are likely to be those in the highest income bracket, where the effective rate has been cut by 3.74 percentage points reinforcing a perception that this government bats for the affluent.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, February 1, presented the last full budget of the Narendra Modi government before the 2024 general elections. The Minister announced a range of new initiatives, revised income tax slabs and customs duty, and sops for agriculture and energy transition.

The Union Budget 2023-24 document also listed the new allocations for core welfare schemes that drive socio-economic development. Here’s a roundup of how the budgetary allocations for some of the key schemes have changed-

MGNREGS: The government slashed the budget for its flagship rural employment scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by nearly 32% compared to the ₹89,400 revised estimate for the scheme in the current year.

Also read | Explained | The funding and demand for MGNREGA

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was passed in 2005 and aimed at enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural areas. Under it, the MGNREGS is a demand-driven scheme that guarantees 100 days of unskilled work per year for every rural household that wants it, covering all districts in the country except those with a 100% urban population.

Food Subsidies: The Centre has allocated a little above ₹2 lakh crore for the food subsidy under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)- this includes funds for the Food Corporation of India, funds for decentralised procurement of grains by State agencies, and other logistical costs. Starting from January 1, 2023, the Centre had decided to provide 5 kg of free foodgrains per month to the 81.35 crore beneficiaries of the NFSA for one year starting from January 2023, rather than charging them a subsidised amount of ₹3 a kg of rice, ₹2 a kg of wheat and ₹1 a kg of coarse cereal as is usually done.

It was announced in December that the government was terminating the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which had provided an additional 5 kg of free grains every month to NFSA beneficiaries after being launched as an emergency measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020 and received multiple extensions since. In a normal year, without COVID disruptions, the Centre’s food subsidy bill on account of the NFSA amounted to around ₹2 lakh crore, similar to the newly-announced allocation, but the PMGKAY had effectively doubled that sum for the past two years.

Jal Jeevan Mission: The Centre increased its budgetary allocation for the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) or the National Rural Drinking Water Mission by about 27% to ₹70,000 crore from the current year’s revised estimates of ₹55,000. The Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.

The Jal Shakti Ministry tweeted last week that the government had provided 11 crore rural households with a tap water connection under the JJM scheme. Data from the Ministry’s dashboard suggest that 56% of the targeted 19.3 crore households had been covered.

The scheme has a total financial outlay of about ₹3.60 lakh crore, with the Centre funding 50% of the cost with States and Union Territories, except for Union Territories without a legislature, where it foots the entire bill, and northeastern and Himalayan States and Union Territories with legislatures, where it funds 90% of the bill.

Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY: The budget for the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) — the national public health insurance fund, saw an increase of about 12% at ₹7,200 crore compared to the ₹6,000 crore revised estimates for the current year.

The Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is a health insurance scheme launched in 2018, aiming to provide a health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. It aims to over 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families (or 50 crore beneficiaries) from the bottom 40% of the Indian population. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had said in December 2022, that 4.5 crore people had so far been empanelled under the scheme.

PM-Kisan: The allocation for the Prime Minister’s Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme was the lowest in five years and remained the same as the revised estimates for the current year at ₹60,000 crore. PM-Kisan is a flagship Central scheme launched in 2019 for cash transfers ₹6,000 per year to eligible farmer families in three instalments of ₹2,000 each.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed while presenting the Union Budget on Wednesday that the government has made cash transfers totalling ₹2.2 lakh crore to around 11 crore farmers under the PM-Kisan scheme.

PM-POSHAN: The government has allocated a budget of ₹11,600 crore to the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman, or the rebranded version of the mid-day meal scheme for 2023-24. This is down 9.37% from the current year’s revised estimates of ₹12,800.

In 2021, while renaming the mid-day meal scheme to give hot cooked meals to 11.8 crore government school students from Class 1 to 8, the Centre had also decided to extend the scheme to 24 lakh children studying in balvatikas, the pre-primary section of government schools from 2022-23.

National Education Mission: A total of ₹38,965 crore was allocated to the National Education Mission for 2023-24, up 19.44% from the ₹32,612 crore revised estimates for the current year. The Mission is the umbrella scheme integrating major education-related schemes so education can be provided holistically and without segmentation from pre-primary to class 12. It includes the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan under the Right to Education and schemes for secondary and higher education as well those for teacher training and adult education.

PMAY: The Centre allocated ₹79,590 crore to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), up 3.19% from the current year’s revised estimates and 66% from the budget estimates. The PMAY aims at constructing houses in both urban and rural areas. PMAY-Gramin (rural) was initiated in November 2016 with a target of completing 2.7 crore houses and PMAY-Urban was initiated in June 2015 with a target of constructing 1.2 crore homes.

National Social Assistance Program: The budget allotted ₹9,636 to the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP), which provides monthly pension assistance to the elderly, widows, and persons with disabilities.

Development of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes: The budget allocated ₹4,295 crore and ₹9,409 crore to the umbrella programs for the development of Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste communities respectively. While the ST development allocation saw a nearly 10% increase, the SC programme funding rose by close to 22%, compared to the current year’s revised estimates.

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