Latest news with #DepartmentofRuralDevelopmentandPanchayatRaj
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme labour budget cut to 12 crore person-days in Tamil Nadu
Around 88 lakh beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Tamil Nadu have to be accommodated, as of now, within the reduced labour budget of 12 crore person-days during 2025-26. The State government had originally proposed 35 crore person-days, adopting a 'bottom-up' approach from village panchayats. Centre's nod However, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj is optimistic of the Union government's approval for an increase in the labour budget for the State in the course of the current year. The reason is not far to seek. During 2024-25 too, Tamil Nadu was allotted only 20 crore person-days. Eventually, the Centre gave approval for around 10 crore more person-days, taking the total number of person-days generated to 30.61 crore. Target and performance of select districts District Person-days allocated during 2025-26 (in lakh) Person-days generated as on June 6, 2025 (in lakh) Person-days generated during 2024-25 (in lakh) Tiruvannamalai 110 12.26 229.66 Villupuram 81 3.85 178.63 Cuddalore 75 7.65 155.82 Tiruvallur 64 5.5 128.94 Pudukkottai 60 4.99 126.01 Madurai 54 1.41 118.69 Virudhunagar 49 2.95 99.88 Dindigul 46 1.84 97.22 Krishnagiri 44 2.65 100.47 Sivagangai 42 1.72 84.74 An official of the department says that after achieving 9.6 crore (80%) person-days, a proposal will be sent to the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) for an increase in the labour budget. Delay in wages Early this year, the delay in the payments of wages made the headlines, prompting Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to take exception. As the MGNREGS is a Central government scheme, the Union government bears the entire wage for unskilled labour. Out of a total unskilled wage expenditure of ₹8,375 crore during 2024-25, the beneficiaries have been paid ₹8,347 crore. A sum of ₹28 crore is yet to be released by the MoRD. As for the current year, ₹122 crore has been paid to the beneficiaries in wages and ₹170 crore is yet to be credited into their accounts, and it will be done shortly, the official points out, adding that the actual sanction has been taken for ₹944.56 crore. On Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu government notified the revised schedule of wage, which has been increased from ₹319 to ₹336. The workload has been increased proportionately, according to an order issued by the State Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.
Hans India
01-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Karnataka State announces 5% rebate for property tax paid before June 5
Bengaluru: In a significant move aimed at easing the burden of property tax payments for citi-zens, the government has announced a 5% discount for those who pay their property tax by June. To support this initiative, the Panchatantra 2.0 software has been ex-tended to allow officials until May 15th to include property details (property profiles) in the system. The government is offering this 5% discount to encourage timely payment of property taxes within the first three months of the financial year. Previously, the deadline to add property profiles in the Panchatantra 2.0 software was set for April 30th, which meant that many citizens would have been deprived of the discount due to the tight timeline. To prevent this inconvenience, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj has intervened to extend the deadline. In the last fiscal year, the property tax collection reached approximately Rs1,600 crore, owing to a smooth and transparent process initiated under the Karnataka Gram Swa-raj and Panchayat Raj Act of 2006. Rule 21 of this act emphasizes the importance of reducing malpractices in tax collection and ensuring transparency. To facilitate a more efficient collection process, the Panchatantra 2.0 software now enables the is-suance of digital receipts instead of manual ones, further promoting online payments. However, some gram panchayats have reportedly been entering multiple property profiles for the same property, causing confusion and issues regarding tax payments for the public. This has led to the decision to deactivate the option for adding new property profiles immediately after tax payments each year. Given the increasing de-mand from the public this year, the extension until May 15th has been granted. As the government continues to streamline processes and enhance transparency in property tax collection, these measures are expected to simplify the experience for taxpayers and ensure that they benefit from the discounts available. This approach not only promotes timely payments but also aims to improve the overall efficiency of tax administration in rural areas.
