Union Finance Secretary justifies cut in allocation for rural jobs scheme
The HinduThe allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was reduced in the Budget for 2023-24 because there has been a huge increase in the allocation for two other rural development programmes, Union Finance Secretary T.V. “The estimate is lower than last year’s budget — the reduction is because there has been a huge increase in two other rural development programmes which employ pretty much the same kind of semi-skilled or unskilled labour,” he said at the ‘Breakfast with BusinessLine’ event at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai, on Thursday. Mr. Somanathan said, “We expect this to have some impact on the number of people who need to come into the safety net of the rural employment guarantee.” He noted that if the demand turned out to be higher, the government would provide an additional amount as the year went by. “We have found credible evidence of irregularities in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in some States,” he said.