Shifting the focus away from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Union Budget has sought to give greater thrust to it other flagship programme Bharat Nirman, covering six sectors, by allocating an additional Rs. 10,000 crore for 2011-12 to provide rural broadband connectivity to all the 2.5 lakh panchayats within the next three years. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has made a total allocation of Rs. 58,000 crore, marking...

The budget has allocated of total Rs160,887 crore, or 36.4% Plan allocation, to the social sector. The Bharat Nirman group of welfare schemes has together been allocated Rs58,000 crore. The income of workers and helpers at anganwadis, or government-run day-care centres, has been doubled. The move is expected to benefit nearly 2.2 million people. However, it has not been replicated for voluntary accredited social health activists of the National Rural...

Recommends guidelines to be issued by Tribal Affairs Ministry The National Advisory Council (NAC) has drawn up detailed operational guidelines, which it has recommended that the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry issue to the States for strengthening the Forest Rights Act (FRA). These guidelines can be issued under Section 12 of the FRA. One, the gram sabhas that are called for enquiry and verification of claims should be convened at the level of...

The Government has included small and marginal farmers under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA by an amendment made in para 1(iv) of the list of permissible activities provided in Schedule-I of the Act. The amendment made is as follows: “Provision of irrigation facility, horticulture plantation and land development facilities to land owned by households belonging to the Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes or below poverty line families or to beneficiaries of land...

When it came to power in May 2009, some ministers in the UPA government had set themselves a deadline of 100 days to show results. But one year and nine-odd months later, the report card of its flagship programmes in nine states hit by Maoism is dismal. Much of the money allocated has gone unspent, according to the “performance study” the Planning Commission conducted in these states and submitted to...