MNREGA gets bulk of bud allocation for Rural Development Min

Budgetary allocation for key rural development programmes largely remained unchanged for the fiscal 2011-2012 with a total allocation of Rs 74,143 crores and the government's flagship MNREGA scheme getting the bulk of it at Rs 40,000 crores.

While presenting the Union Budget today, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government has decided to index the wage rates notified under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour.

Mukherjee said that this comes in pursuance of the earlier Budget announcement to provide a real wage of Rs 100 per day to those employed under the government's flagship rural job assurance scheme.

The enhanced wage rates has been notified by the Ministry of Rural Development on January, 2011, Mukherjee said, adding that this step has resulted in significant enhancement of wages for the beneficiaries across the country.

For housing facilities in Left Wing Extremist (LWE) affected districts across the country, the government has allocated Rs 8,996 crores under the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), with each family to get Rs 45,000 (plains) and Rs 48,500 (hills) as financial assistance.