The rural employment guarantee scheme will require additional funds beyond the upwardly revised Rs.98,000 crore in the Budget presented on February 1.
The Centre proposes to spend an additional Rs.12000 crore on government schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA).
According to estimates from the finance ministry, the scheme may necessitate an additional Rs.8000-9000 crore. Outflows from fertiliser subsidies and the Department of Food and Public Distribution are also expected to rise, according to the ministry.
Officials, on the other hand, stated that these additional expenses are well within the acceptable range and will be limited to Rs.12000 crore.
“Some schemes may necessitate more than RE (revised estimate). However, they will be less than Rs.12000 crore, and we may use the contingency fund if necessary “According to a senior official in the Finance Ministry.
Article 267 of the Indian Constitution calls for the creation of a corpus under the Contingency Fund of India to deal with any emergency situation.
With the pandemic in mind, the government increased the Contingency Fund from Rs.500 crore to Rs.30000 crore in the last Union Budget via the Finance Bill 2021.
Another official stated that any additional funding would be scrutinised for its application.
Officials previously reported that 19 states have exceeded the current fiscal year’s expenditure on the rural employment guarantee scheme, bringing the total expenditure on the scheme to 102.39 percent as of February 21. Other states have also requested additional funds from the Centre, citing increased demand.