Public Awareness & General Administration
Consultation meeting for the Union Budget of 2023-24
- The States urged the Centre to rein in its reliance on raising revenues through cesses and surcharges which reduce the State’s share in the divisible pool of taxes.
- The proposition was made by the states at a consultation meeting for the Union Budget of 2023-24, steered by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and attended by Chief Ministers, Deputy CMs as well as Finance Ministers of States.
- Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan noted that the share of cesses and surcharges had grown from 10.4% of gross tax revenue in 2011-12 to 26.7% in 2021-22 which has deprived the States of their legitimate share of revenue collected by the Union Government.
- Some states raised concern about the pending dues from the five year GST compensation window for States that expired on June 30, 2022.
Note
- The Compensation Cess is a Cess that will be collected on the supply of select goods and or services or both till 1st July 2022. The Cess will compensate the states for any revenue loss on account of implementation of GST.
Govt – Welfare oriented Govt schemes, their utility
Women save money due to free bus travel, finds T.N. Planning Commission study
- The study, ‘A Report on the Zero Ticket Bus Travel Scheme for Women in State Owned Bus Transport Corporations,’ was conducted by the State Planning Commission.
- The study was conducted among the women passengers in the three districts of Nagapattinam, Tiruppur and Madurai.
- Nagapattinam was chosen to see how women in the agriculture belt commute.
- Tiruppur was taken to see how women in industrial belts commute.
- Madurai was chosen for being a major trading centre as well as a tourist destination.
Key Highlights of the Study
- Women passengers in Nagapattinam, Madurai and Tiruppur, who avail themselves of the zero ticket bus travel scheme, save on an average ₹888 every month.
- Savings across different occupational categories of women passengers range from ₹756 to ₹1,012 a month.
- Though the scheme is operational in buses originating from urban centres, women from rural households benefit more than urban users.
Committee and Commissions
Sinha Committee to look into MGNREGA’s efficacy
- The Government has constituted a committee under the leadership of former Rural Development secretary Amarjeet Sinha to review the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme to assess the programme’s efficacy as a poverty alleviation tool.
- The Committee has been given three months to submit its suggestions.
- The Committee will study the various factors behind demand for MGNREGA work, expenditure trends and inter-state variations, and the composition of work.
- The scheme will suggest the required changes in focus and governance structures to make MGNREGA more effective
About MGNREGA
- The scheme was launched in 2005.
- The scheme guarantees 100 days of unskilled work per year for every rural household that volunteers.
- The scheme was launched as a poverty alleviation instrument for the rural region providing them with a safety net in the form of guaranteed work and wages.
- It is implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD).
