-The Indian Express Somanathan said the government is trying to reach the target group of unskilled and semi-skilled workers through increased government expenditure in the construction sector. Working with a “constrained resource envelope” in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic ahead of Budget 2021-22, the government essentially had to make a choice between two policy options: handouts and capital expenditure. “We chose capex,” TV Somanathan, Expenditure Secretary, Ministry of Finance, told The...

-IdeasforIndia.in Commenting on the strong infrastructure push in the 2021-22 Budget, Sarmistha Pal argues that an emphasis on investment in infrastructure may not necessarily bring India out of the current economic recession – with the Budget’s negligence of the education sector and insufficient health expenditure, making matters worse. The 2021-22 Union Budget, announced on 1 February 2021, made a definitive turn to the right as it turned its back on providing any...

-The Hindu Infamous as Jharkhand’s hub of online frauds, the tiny district now has 45 public libraries diverting youth away from cybercrime BHUBANESWAR: The library movement in Jharkhand’s Jamtara district got off to a flying start with public libraries developed in a short span of time receiving a steady inflow of students from different age groups. Jamtara’s love for books assumes huge significance as it has the dubious distinction of being the “phishing...

-PTI/ The Hindu The RBI is targeting to roll out the e-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme in June 2021 The Reserve Bank on Friday announced it will be integrating consumer grievances redressal under a single ombudsman as against three schemes working at present. There are dedicated ombudsman schemes devoted to consumer grievance redressal in banking, non-bank finance companies and digital transactions, respectively, at present. “To make the alternate dispute redress mechanism simpler and more responsive to...

-Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) ‘Analysis of Union Budget’ is a publication which Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) brings out every year following the presentation of the Union Budget in Parliament. This document presents our analysis of the priorities and trends in the Union Budget with regard to the sectors and issues that are directly relevant for the poorer sections of the population. Accordingly, this publication focuses...