Union Budget 2024: 'MNREGA and all schemes that we started will continue,' says FM Sitharaman

In her first interview with Doordarshan following the presentation of Narendra Modi's third-term budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that the omission of certain schemes, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), from her speech does not imply their discontinuation.

"I spoke for say 90 minutes, now in that one and half hour it is not possible to talk about every scheme. Schemes started will continue," she clarified.

She also pointed out that there were lot of criticisms that while the Budget speech focussed on two states -- Andhra Pradesh and Bihar -- other states were ignored.

"Simply not true. Every state will get benefit from the centre as they have been getting," she said.

On July 23, Sitharaman announced a proposed allocation of ₹86,000 crore for MGNREGA in the 2024 Budget, matching the amount set in the interim budget. Launched in 2006, MGNREGA is India's largest rural employment initiative, aiming to provide 100 days of work to rural households.

The government reports that between March 2024 and now, 3.2 crore households have benefited from the scheme, generating employment for 13.07 crore individuals in the current fiscal year. In the previous budget for 2023-24, the government faced criticism for reducing MGNREGA's allocation despite actual expenditures exceeding the budgeted amount.

In anticipation of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the government increased MGNREGA's allocation from ₹60,000 crore to ₹86,000 crore in the vote-on-account budget. The allocation for the upcoming fiscal year will be closely watched, as the Modi government has faced accusations of neglecting this UPA-initiated scheme, which is widely regarded as an effective means of generating rural employment.