MGNREGA seeks ₹25,000 crore additional funding
The HinduThe Centre has sought ₹25,000 crore as additional funding for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme as part of the supplementary demand for grants submitted to Parliament on Friday, after the demand-driven rural jobs scheme ran out of funds midway through the year. Overall, ₹3.73 lakh crore of additional funding is planned for the current financial year, with an equity infusion into Air India Assets Holding Company, additional fertiliser subsidy, food storage and warehousing, and payment of pending export incentives being the big ticket items accounting for three-fourths of the total. This year, the Centre seeks to transfer ₹25,000 crore to the National Employment Guarantee Fund, and the supplementary demand for grants entails an additional cash out-go of almost ₹22,039 crore for the scheme. The additional fertiliser subsidy includes ₹43,430 crore for the phosphatic and potassic subsidy and ₹15,000 crore towards the urea subsidy scheme.