-The Indian Express Interim budget indicates that the government’s electoral strategy is to win over the ‘intermediate classes’ while ignoring the poor. The Narendra Modi government has now carried its penchant for undermining institutions to the national budget itself. Not only has it treated what should have been an interim budget, as its tenure lasts barely two months into the new financial year, as a full-fledged budget, but it has also...

-Centre for Financial Accountability blog The institution of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in India is patterned on the British model. In Britain, The Exchequer & Audit Department Act of 1866 created the office of CAG with a view to strengthen democracy and exercise parliamentary control over national finances. The office of CAG came into being, thanks to the missionary zeal of William Gladstone who was Finance Minister at the time...

-The Telegraph A sizeable portion of collections under the Primary Education Cess was never transferred to Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh The money every taxpayer pays towards the Primary Education Cess, meant to improve the quality of government schooling in the country, is not being used entirely for the purpose. A sizeable portion of the collections under the 2 per cent cess was never transferred to the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK), the dedicated corpus...

-The Hindu A forum representing single women has prepared a charter of demands pitching for enhanced Budgetary Allocation so that schemes such as monthly pension and benefits for care-givers can be framed for them. Their call comes at a time five States prepare to vote during Assembly elections and when there are nearly six months left for general elections. The National Forum for Single Women’s Rights (NFSWR) has also demanded that the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The central government scheme to reimburse employers in the private sector 50% wages of the last 14 weeks of maternity leave will be funded by a Rs 400 crore allocation and is intended to counter the perception that extended maternity leave is deterring female employment. There will be a wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 a month for eligible women. On the status of the proposal, the...