They fear the laws could shrink employment and raise prices. Feb 17, 2021 · 06:30 am Farmers block a road in Punjab s Bathinda during the nationwide chakka jam demonstration on Saturday, February 6. | PTI
For 32-year-old Goldie, a tailor from Sri Muktsar Sahib district in Punjab, the slogan ‘Kisan Mazdoor Ekta’ – farmer-worker unity – rings true. “No one asks me if I am a Dalit,” he said. “Everyone eats together. It is a milestone for us.”
Goldie has been camping in Tikri village on the Delhi-Haryana border since November. It is one of the three sites on the doorstep of India’s capital where thousands of farmers have been protesting against the Modi government’s three farm laws, which they fear they will open the doors to corporate dominance of the agricultural sector and undermine their livelihoods.
The rural development ministers statement, which comes in response to a question in Rajya Sabha, is significant as there has been rising demand for work under the scheme in rural India after demand for workers continues to be low in industrial parts of the country.
Synopsis
While there was demand for work from 26.2 million households in January, only 18.4 million got employment, according to government data.
New Delhi: The number of rural households that didn’t get work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme soared to 7.8 million in January – an all-time high in this financial year – as states were said to have gone slow in providing work.
While there was demand for work from 26.2 million households in January, only 18.4 million got employment, according to government data.
The previous peak was in June, when demand from 5.8 million households was unmet after workers migrated from the cities to rural areas in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown.
New central schemes added in rejig, allocation jumps 12.3%
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Synopsis
The exercise has resulted in a jump of 12.3% in cumulative budgetary allocation for centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) to 3.81 lakh crore in 2021-22 from 3.39 lakh crore budgeted in 2020-21.
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NEW DELHI: The budget has increased the number of centrally sponsored schemes to 33 from 31 now, adding three new schemes while doing away with one old scheme and replacing one with a new scheme.
The exercise has resulted in a jump of 12.3% in cumulative budgetary allocation for centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) to Rs 3.81 lakh crore in 2021-22 from Rs 3.39 lakh crore budgeted in 2020-21. However, the allocation for the next fiscal is slightly lower than the revised estimates for 2020-21 of Rs 3.87 lakh crore after a substantial increase of Rs 40,000 crore was made to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme amid the pandemic.