Social, rural sectors to benefit from Budget

pfont size="2"strongAGE CORRESPONDENT/strong/font/p pNew Delhi/p pJuly 3: Continuing with its strategy to counter global financial meltdown and bring the country?s economy back on higher growth trajectory, the government is all set to provide an additional Rs 40,000 crores from the Interim Budget (Rs 285 lakh crores). The increased allocation in the final budget (2009-10), which will be spent on the rural poor, is about Rs 81,617 crores higher than the last financial year./p pThe sectors expected to get major focus would be social sectors and rural infrastructure, which will get almost 75 per cent of the additional allocations. Reiterating their commitment to increase economic activity in rural areas, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to enhance further allocation for NREGA by Rs 9,900 crores./p pSources indicated that expansion of the programme, as well as enhancement of wages under NREGA has been kept in abeyance, since it has already been taking around 12 per cent of national spending. quot;From around Rs 30,100 crores in Interim Budget, the total figure for the programme this year would now be Rs 40,000 crores,quot; they said./p pNext highest allocation would be made for Pradhanmantri Gram Sarak Yojna (Rural Roads). The programme will get around Rs 6,000 crores over and above the Interim Budget./p pAnother programme aimed at social welfare, which was much publicised during the UPA?s last tenure, the National Rural Health Mission will also get additional Rs 1,200 crores so as to provide better health services to the rural India. The programme was already allocated Rs 12,070 crores in the Interim Budget./p pThe Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which has seen initial successes and considered important for modernising urban areas, will get an additional Rs 1,500 crores against Rs 11,842 crores allocated in the Interim Budget. quot;A chunk of this money would go for providing housing for the urban poor,quot; sources said./p pAnother programme, the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Viduytikaran Yojana (RGGVY), focusing at winning confidence of rural voters will get an additional Rs 1,500 crores in this budget which has already been allotted Rs 6,000 crores in the Interim Budget. quot;Under the RGGVY, house-to-house electrification would be ensured, which would in turn boost rural economy. So far, only electric poles had been set up,quot; sources said./p p /p

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