MGNREGA: Budget 2021 should maintain the pace
January 31, 2021
×
The scheme provided momentum to the economy during Covid-19 and experts think the Budget allocation to the scheme can be increased in FY22
For the past three years, many adivasis from remote Peth taluka of Nashik district in Maharashtra have not migrated to cities in search of work and livelihood. They grow rice enough to sell at the local market, thanks to the construction of farm ponds, stone and mud bunds and other agriculture-related works carried out under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Besides addressing the problem of migration from villages, the scheme has helped provide employment to migrant labourers dislocated this fiscal year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As compared to the last financial year, the Centre has increased funding under MGNREGA scheme by ₹19,091 crore due to Covid-19 outbreak. Experts think that the Budget allocation to the scheme should be increased to
A Budget blueprint for difficult times
Updated:
Updated:
January 30, 2021 01:36 IST
Alarming inequality, failing health care and border tensions loom large and the economic situation needs full attention
Share Article
AAA
Alarming inequality, failing health care and border tensions loom large and the economic situation needs full attention
As the country prepares to enter a new financial year after an ominous and gloomy 2020-21, there are great expectations about green shoots and the shape of the economic recovery. The havoc wreaked by the novel coronavirus pandemic on people’s lives and livelihoods is deep and enormous. The impact of the COVID-19 induced lockdown cannot be understood merely through headline macro-economic numbers of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), stock market indices, industrial activity indices or any such measure. COVID-19 has destroyed lives and incomes; it has also ruptured our social fabric. It has exacerbated the inequality between the haves and th
Opinion: Budget is both challenge, opportunity to govt for mid-course correction
By Venkat Parsa| Updated: 29th January 2021 1:19 pm IST Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman (File Photo)
Venkat Parsa
As Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present the Union Budget on February 1, there are soaring expectations from across all sections of society. A nation recovering from the twin blows of Corona Virus pandemic and economic slowdown, is looking for a healing touch from the Union Budget.
All eyes are on the Union Budget. There is curiosity as to how the Modi government will tackle the challenge of putting the economy back on the growth trajectory.
India needs to spend on infrastructure, MGNREGA: Gita Gopinath
Gita Gopinath also said a credible divestment plan would boost the confidence of the markets, adding that the government must keep the borrowing costs low during the transition period.
Gita Gopinath, IMF Chief Economist.
India needs a high quality public infrastructure spending which is job rich, said Gita Gopinath, Chief Economist, International Monetary Fun, on January 28.
Her comment ahead of the Union Budget 2021-22 that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present on February 1.
She said the budgetary outlay for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) must be extended as it could play a critical role in helping poor households and tackling growing income inequalities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.