Loss on rural employment, Finance Minister reduced MNREGA allocation by 30 percent in the budget

Many gifts have been given from the budget box of the Finance Minister to the common man and the industries. At the same time, scissors have also been used in many places. The budgetary allocation for the rural job guarantee scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA), has been cut by 30 per cent in the Union Budget. It has now been reduced to Rs 61,032.65 crore. This is 30 per cent lower than the revised estimate of Rs 89,154.65 crore for 2022-23. This is the second straight cut in the budgetary allocation of the scheme. In the budget for 2022-23 too, the budgetary allocation for MGNREGA was cut by 25 per cent to Rs 73,000 crore from the revised estimate of Rs 98,000 crore.

The job guarantee scheme provides 100 days of wage employment every financial year to rural households across the country. MGNREGA was introduced through a parliamentary act in 2005, and earmarked one-third of rural jobs for women. Over the years, this scheme has been working as a gamechanger. Lakhs of rural families have gained employment through this. During the Corona period, lakhs of migrant workers got work under it when they were forced to return to their native places.

The budgetary allocation for food and public distribution has been reduced by 30 per cent to Rs 2,05,513 crore in the Union Budget for 2023-24. According to the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, the budgetary estimate for 2023-24 is Rs 2,05,513 crore, which is 30 per cent lower than the revised estimate of Rs 2,96,303 crore for 2022-23. The Center has already discontinued the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which was launched in March 2020 during the Corona period, under which the government had provided food to every ration card holder, apart from those eligible under the National Food Security Act, till December 31, 2022. Provided additional 5 kg free food grains to The scheme was discontinued from January 1, 2023.