In the recent week, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has dealt three major, concerted blows to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA): (1) The Budget allocation for NREGA was reduced to just Rs 60,000 crore in 2023-24 (less than Rs 50,000 crore if we deduct wage arrears from 2022-23). This makes this year’s allocation the lowest as a proportion of GDP (0.2%) in the history of the programme. (2) The...
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Expand PDS to include non-ration card holders and 10 crore excluded by using old census figures: Right to Food Campaign
A coalition of civil society activits has criticized the Union Budget 2023-24 for reducing government spending on the social sector by a massive amount. The economic crisis induced by the Covid-19 pandemic was borne disproportionately by those at the bottom of the pyramid and in this context spending on social protection schemes such as the Public Distribution System, anganwadis, pensions and MGNREGA is especially important. But the Government of India has...
More »Budget 2023-24: NREGA, Food Subsidy, Mid Day meal allocations cut drastically
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), National Food Security Act (NFSA) are schemes whose allocations have been cut drastically in Budget 2023-24, while the Mid-Day Meals budget has also seen a sharp drop. An analysis by the Accountability Initiative (AI) at the Centre for Policy Research reveals that in the case of NREGA and NFSA, the reduction has been over 30 percent! The budget for Mid-Day meals...
More »Budget Briefs: FY 2022-23 MGNREGS allocation 9% lower, expenditure outstrips funds - Ria Kasliwal, Mridusmita Bordoloi, Avani Kapur
Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research Budget 2023-24 will be unveiled on February 1. This brief examines the Government of India’s flagship rural employment programme. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). It was launched in 2006 and is the largest scheme of the Department of Rural Development (DoRD) under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). It aims to provide 100 Days of guaranteed wage employment to every rural...
More »Economic Survey 2022-23 Highlights inflation risks and Rupee depreciation pressure on Indian Economy
The Economic Survey 2022-23, released toDay, has flagged threats to the Indian economy, even as it forecasts a GDP growth rate of 6.5% for the next fiscal year. The survey has said that the challenge of the Indian rupee depreciating remains. "However, the challenge of the depreciating rupee, although better performing than most other currencies, persists with the likelihood of further increases in policy rates by the US Fed". What...
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