Welfare Schemes

Declaring that the government would not allow the misuse of resources, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday alleged that the West Bengal government was diverting central funds and making "undeserving" people beneficiaries of welfare schemes. As Lok Sabha proceedings began in the morning after six days of disruption, his junior Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani also spoke in the House and dismissed the suggestion that the government has reduced funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). He said the budget allocation for MGNREGS has been increased by Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore every year -- in comparison to the previous year -- and it has not been reduced at all. Chouhan strongly refuted Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee's allegation that Central funds of various welfare schemes had not been released to West Bengal. He said during Question Hour that the West Bengal government has made "undeserving" people ...

As companies struggle with chronic shortages, critics blame an overly generous welfare system, where spending on health-related benefits outranks other developed nations

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged women to come forward and take benefits of central schemes to make them more capable and empowered. She was speaking at a credit outreach programme held in Madhubani, where loans to the tune of Rs 1,121 crore were provided to 50,294 beneficiaries by various banks. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji says there should be a Lakhpati Didi' in every village of the country and for this, banks have launched several schemes for providing financial assistance to women. Women are being given financial assistance and training through every Self Help Group (SHG) in Bihar. I urge women to become a part of the schemes launched by the central government... so that they can become more capable and empowered, Sitharaman said. She also said women would play an important role in achieving the goal of a developed India by 2047. Our PM believes that India's development should be led by women. The focus of the NDA government is clear The poor, wome

The President had told the NITI Aayog to pave the way for providing lands and also enhanced financial allocation to the tribals

Under the NHM, financial support is provided to procure hydroxyurea, helping reduce out-of-pocket expenses for sickle cell anaemia patients

Till November 25, approximately 14 lakh Ayushman Vay Vandana cards have been created for senior citizen beneficiaries aged 70 years and above under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the government informed Parliament on Friday. The estimated number of families with beneficiaries aged 70 years and above is 4.5 crore, which corresponds to the six crore individuals under the scheme, Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. Till November 25, approximately 14 lakh Ayushman Vay Vandana cards have been created for senior citizen beneficiaries aged 70 years and above under the scheme, he added. Besides, around 35.89 crore Ayushman cards were created under the scheme as on October 31 since its launch in 2018, Jadhav said. Under AB-PMJAY, a three-tier grievance redressal system at the district, state and national levels has been created to resolve the issues faced by beneficiaries in utilising ...

Data shows that the Centre is ready to lend a helping hand, irrespective of political differences between state and Centre, if a state is eager to take advantage of its schemes

Are welfare state and its agents, the political parties, making such excessive promises, particularly in pre-election years, with undesirable consequences?

Maharashtra is faced with a debt burden of Rs 7.82 trillion for FY25, exacerbated by other welfare measures, like electricity bill waiver for farmers and free gas cylinders for six million households

Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said the "Ladli Bahan' scheme launched during his tenure as the Madhya Pradesh chief minister is aimed at empowering women and not at getting votes, as he launched the third edition of a national campaign against gender-based violence. Speaking at an event here to launch the third edition of "Nayi Chetna -- Pahal Badlaav Ki", a national campaign against gender-based violence, Chouhan talked about the women-centric schemes launched during his tenure as the Madhya Pradesh chief minister, including the direct-benefit-transfer scheme "Ladli Bahan", which was a game-changer that helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win another term in power in the state. Similar schemes launched in Maharashtra and Jharkhand recently were also a major factor behind the incumbent regimes retaining power in those states. Chouhan, however, said the scheme is not intended at getting votes. "The Ladli Bahan yojana was not brought to get votes. I ..

Women voters, empowered by schemes like Ladli Behna and Maiya Yojana, are reshaping India's elections, turning welfare initiatives into game-changers in politics

Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh on Thursday stressed the need to bring fish farmers into the organised sector to enable them to take benefit of various government schemes, besides tackling challenges of marine pollution and illegal fishing. Addressing an event on 'World Fisheries Day', the minister of fisheries, animal husbandry & dairying highlighted that India is the world's second-largest fish producer and expressed confidence that the country will soon become top producer globally. India's fish production has surged 82 per cent to 175.45 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 from 95.79 lakh tonnes in 2013-14. Singh credited the sharp rise in fish production to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's various measures in the last 10 years to boost growth in the fishery sector, including Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and Fisheries and Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF). He said 3 crore people are directly involved in the fishery sector. Listing out the challenges faced by

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal will fulfil his promise and the women of Delhi will receive Rs 1,000 as monthly honorarium soon, Chief Minister Atishi said on Monday. Atishi -- who was taking part in a 'padyatra (foot march)' campaign of AAP at Hari Nagar -- said Kejriwal was the only person who could provide electricity, water, good schools, bus travel for women, treatment at mohalla clinics, and pilgrimages for the elderly for free. "We will now provide Rs 1,000 per month to every mother and sister in Delhi on the first day of each month.Therefore, in the upcoming February election, Delhiites should elect Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister for the fourth time with a massive majority," she said. Atishi urged people to vote for AAP and Kejriwal for a better future for their children and to continue getting free electricity, water and pilgrimages for the elderly. "The BJP governs 22 states but has failed to provide good schools, hospitals or free electricity. That's why they imprisoned .

The rural development ministry on Sunday dismissed reports that enrolment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is going down and said it is not possible to fix targets for total enrolment in the demand-driven scheme as the financial year is still going on. According to a report of Libtech India on the implementation of the MGNREGS, there has been an 8-per cent drop in the number of active workers under the scheme compared to last year. The report also said there has been a net deletion of 39 lakh workers, raising concerns about wrongful deletions. While the names of 84.8 lakh workers were deleted, only 45.4 lakh workers were added under the scheme. "Since MGNREGA is a demand-driven scheme and current FY is still ongoing, hence, it is not possible to fix an exact target of person days generation. However, the states/UTs can send proposals for labour budget revision as per the locally felt needs," the ministry said in a statement. "It may be .

Borrowings remains within prudent norms

The Odisha government has launched Gramodaya, a new scheme to ensure that welfare programmes reach the people living in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts, an official said. This initiative will cover 583 villages spread across 10 LWE-affected districts of the state, the official said. The notification for the initiative was issued by the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi made such an announcement at the meeting of the chief ministers of LWE-affected states chaired by Union Home minister Amit Shah at New Delhi on Monday. The initiative will be implemented in the districts of Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Rayagada. The objective of the programme is to converge all the departments of the state government which will work together to ensure effective development of the LWE hit areas. However, there is no special budgetary allocation for the

Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida on Tuesday said more than one crore women have registered themselves under the Subhadra Yojana, a financial assistance scheme launched by the BJP government in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the ambitious women-centric scheme on September 17, and on that day, the first instalment of Rs 5,000 was sent directly to the bank accounts of around 25.11 lakh beneficiaries. "Over one crore women have already come forward and registered themselves to get benefits of the Subhadra Yojana, which has created a history in Odisha," the deputy CM said. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi would release the first instalment to another 35 lakh women on October 9 at Baripada in Mayurbhanj district, said Parida, who is in charge of the Women and Child Development Department. Subhadra Yojana, the financial assistance scheme named after the sister of Lord Jagannath, was one of the major promises made by the BJP for women in its election ..

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said the financial assistance under the 'Ladki Bahin' scheme could even be raised to Rs 3,000 if women in the state support his government. Shinde also wondered why the opposition was jealous over his government's welfare initiatives and exuded confidence that the ruling Mahayuti alliance of the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP will retain power in the upcoming state elections. He was speaking on Tuesday at a congregation of seers at the Kanheri Math in Kolhapur on the occasion of the 'dharma dhwaj' inauguration. Under the Mahayuti government's flagship welfare scheme 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana', introduced ahead of the state polls, married, divorced, and destitute women aged 21-65 are receiving Rs 1,500 per month as stipend with the annual family income of beneficiaries capped at Rs 2.5 lakh. Shinde criticised the opposition for criticising the government over the Ladki Bahin scheme and asked why was it getting jealous. "If the dear

Move aims at tracking workforce formalisation in India

Women aged between 21 and 60 are eligible to receive Rs 50,000 over a period of five years