The Centre has unveiled a 1.25 lakh crore rupee push for rural development in the country. Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the Central government has already allocated 30,000 crore rupees under MGNREGA. He said, in addition to this, an interim allocation of 95 thousand 692 crore rupees has been released to States and Union Territories. With this, the total allocation will exceed 1.25 lakh crore rupees.

Mr Chouhan said this after chairing a virtual meeting of State Rural Development Ministers regarding the implementation of ‘Viksit Bharat G RAM G ‘. The Act will come into force across the country with effect from 1st of next month. Briefing the media, Mr Chouhan said that the government has asked states and union territories to make necessary preparations ahead of the implementation of the Act. He said that 26 states have made budgetary provisions, while Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana and Mizoram have also assured the initiation of the process.

The Minister further clarified that no state’s allocation has been reduced and the budget has been increased by 40% compared to last year. Mr Chouhan stressed that the aim of VB-G RAM G is to accelerate rural development and provide employment to labourers without any interruption.