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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
What new Registration Bill says, why it was introduced
The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has invited suggestions on the new draft Registration Bill 2025, which seeks to replace the 117-year-old Registration Act of 1908. The Bill, the MoRD says, will digitise the registration of property documents, enhance transparency, and maintain digital records. Can it deliver? The Registration Bill, 2025 was introduced to establish a modern framework for registration of land documents, and a more citizen-centric approach. Some key features include: Online/offline registration: End-to-end registrations, from the presentation of documents to their submission, can either be done at the office of the Sub-Registrar or via electronic means. Identity verifications will be carried out via Aadhaar or through an offline verification process (Section 29 (3)). No person can be denied registration of their documents if they do not possess an Aadhaar number (Section 29 (4)). Expanded list of compulsory docs: The Bill expands the list of compulsory registration of documents under Section 12 with the inclusion of agreement of sale, power of attorneys (POAs), sale agreements, mortgage by deposit of title deed, and merger and demerger of companies under the Companies Act, 2013 (Section 12(f-j)). The Bill also provides for simplified optional registration under Section 13 that Section 12 does not cover but fails to specify which documents come under this category, leaving it to wide interpretation. Introducing new positions: In addition to the post of Inspector General of Registration, the Bill introduces Additional and Assistant Inspector Generals of Registration. Section 4(5) states: 'The appropriate government may prescribe the terms and conditions of service, and the duties of the officers appointed under sub-section (4) and authorise them to exercise all or any powers and duties of the Inspector General of Registration.' Reasons for refusal/cancellation: Section 58 of the Bill lists the reasons upon which a document may be refused for registration, including documents submitted without true translation, erasure of content from the documents, documents submitted after the prescribed period of four-months (this is not applicable on wills), or if the person concerned is a minor, mentally incapable or deceased. Section 64(3) states that the Inspector General of the Registration is vested with the power to cancel any registration that appears to be made based on false information, in breach of the provisions of the Act, or if the document was made on a transaction that was found to be conducted against the law. Such reasons must be recorded in writing before passing an order. An appeal can be filed against such an order within 30 days. Reduced imprisonment: The penalties prescribed in the current Act are seven years imprisonment with a fine or both, whereas the new draft bill reduces the imprisonment to three years, along with a fine, or in some cases, both. Why did the current Act need reform? The pre-Independence Registration Act, 1908 provided for registration of various property-related documents. Citizens needed to visit the registration office and submit documents to the Sub-Registrar for the registration process. These documents were required to be presented by persons themselves or their appointed agents. With growing technological advancements and hassle-free methods, 'several states and union territories have already introduced innovations such as online document submission and digital identity verification under the existing 1908 Act,' the MoRD says. As the role of the registered documents increased in both public and private transactions, parallel systems had to be designed to sustain the growing demands. This necessitated an updation of the Act itself — which the Registration Bill 2025 seeks to do. What are some concerns surrounding the Bill? The Bill aims to digitise processes of registration, reduce the risk of title fraud, improve approval rates, and reduce disputes. However, with the maintenance of digital records, important information with regards to e-signatures will be maintained in a digital archive, which may require more robust cybersecurity systems. The Bill may also delegate the registration functions to the Common Services Centres (CSCs). Allowing CSCs to facilitate processes that involve valuation of stamp duty, transfer of title, etc, processes that require legal implications, may create procedural gaps. The portal for suggestions on the draft Bill remains open until June 25.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Why the Centre wants QR codes on roads built under PM Gram Sadak Yojana
Earlier this month, the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) asked states to attach QR codes on all maintenance information display boards for roads built under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The first phase of the PMGSY was launched on December 25, 2000, by the then NDA government headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to improve rural infrastructure through road construction. The second phase was launched in 2013. Another component, called the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA), was launched in 2016 for the construction of rural roads in LWE-affected areas. The third phase was launched in 2019. On September 11, 2024, the Central government approved phase IV to provide all-weather road connectivity to 25,000 unconnected habitations of population size 500+ in plains, 250+ in northeastern and hill states/UTs, special category areas (Tribal Schedule V, Aspirational Districts/Blocks, Desert areas) and 100+ in LWE-affected areas (notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs in nine states), as per Census 2011. Starting as a totally Centrally Sponsored Scheme, the funding pattern was modified from 2015-16 to 60:40 between the Centre and states (except for northeastern and Himalayan states). A total of 62,500 km of road length is proposed to be constructed for Rs 70,125 crore from 2024-25 to 2028-29. Since the scheme was launched, a total road length of 8,36,850 km has been sanctioned, of which 7,81,209 km has been completed, as per information available on the scheme dashboard. What has the government planned now? The National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA), which comes under the MoRD and provides technical support for implementing the PMGSY, has written to all states about QR codes. The aim is to get public feedback about the quality and maintenance of roads. Under the PMGSY, all roads after the completion of construction are maintained by the contractor for five years. This is done using a mobile-cum-web-based e-MARG (electronic Maintenance of Rural Roads) system. It is an e-governance solution for managing and monitoring rural road maintenance. The contractor carries out the routine maintenance and submits bills on eMARG. The field engineering staff carry out Routine Inspection (RI) to verify the maintenance by the contractor, and based on geo-tagged photographs captured during RI, the Performance Evaluation (PE) is done based on 12 parameters of Routine Maintenance activities, according to the NRIDA. As a whole, maintenance comes under the ambit of state governments, with rural roads being a state subject. The NRIDA also deploys its National Level Monitors (NLMs) to check the construction quality of roads. The NLMs reports have flagged substandard works under the PMGSY in the past. However, there was no existing mechanism to capture people's feedback about the quality of maintenance. How will the new system work? To enable easy sharing of feedback, a utility has been created in eMARG. A QR code can be generated for each road, to be displayed on the maintenance information display board on the road. The board can contain instructions for registering feedback in English and the local language. 'Any road user/public can scan the QR code using a mobile phone and will get all details of the road. Users can click photographs on the road and can flag any maintenance related issue in the feedback window,' according to the NRIDA. The citizens' feedback photos will be integrated with the relevant Routine Inspection. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will be employed to analyse these photographs to advise on Performance Evaluation (PE) marks. All programs implementing units, while giving PE marks, shall be responsible for checking these photos. 'This way not only will the public participate in ensuring maintenance on the roads but, the photographs clicked by the users will also help the engineering staff to do a realistic performance evaluation. Thus, eMARG will be a more transparent system for ensuring Routine Maintenance for 5 years,' states the NRIDA letter sent to all additional chief secretaries/principal secretaries/secretaries in-charge of the PMGSY of all states and Union Territories on June 2. According to officials, trials were carried out in various states, including a pilot project in Himachal Pradesh. After this, the new facility was made fully functional.
Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
In a first, Centre caps MGNREGS spend at 60% for first six months of FY 2025-26
For the first time, the government has capped spending under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) at 60 per cent of its annual allocation for the first half of the financial year 2025–26, The Indian Express has learnt. Until now, the rural jobs guarantee scheme has operated as a demand-driven programme with no such spending limit. It is learnt that the Ministry of Finance has informed the Ministry of Rural Development that c will now be brought under the Monthly/Quarterly Expenditure Plan (MEP/QEP), a spending control mechanism from which it had been exempt so far. The Finance Ministry introduced the MEP/QEP in 2017 to help ministries manage cash flow and avoid unnecessary borrowing. MGNREGS remained outside its scope until now, with the Rural Development Ministry arguing that the scheme's demand-driven nature made fixed spending caps unworkable. But at the start of the 2025–26 financial year, the Finance Ministry is learnt to have directed the MoRD to include MGNREGS under the MEP/QEP framework as well. It is learnt that the Rural Development Ministry (MoRD) had submitted its MEP/QEP for MGNREGS to the Budget Division of the Finance Ministry, proposing a higher spending limit for the first two quarters of 2025–26. However, the Finance Ministry did not agree. After multiple rounds of communication between the two ministries, the Finance Ministry informed MoRD on May 29 that it could spend up to 60 per cent of MGNREGS's annual outlay—Rs 86,000 crore—in the first half of the financial year, 'considering the urgent need of expenditure to be incurred during [the] first half.' This means that only Rs 51,600 crore will be available for the scheme until the end of September. Although a 60 per cent spending cap may not have made a difference in most years—given that first-half spending has typically ranged between 50 and 60 per cent (53.5 per cent in 2024–25, 60.51 per cent in 2023–24, 54.29 per cent in 2022–23, 60.83 per cent in 2021–22, and 53.79 per cent in 2020–21)—officials told The Indian Express that it could impact employment generation under the rural job guarantee scheme this year, due to a significant carryover of pending liabilities worth Rs 21,000 crore from the previous financial year. According to government sources, a significant portion of this year's MGNREGS allocation will go towards clearing pending liabilities from the previous financial year, limiting the scope for generating the targeted number of persondays. The term 'persondays' refers to the total number of days of work performed by individuals under the scheme. For 2025–26, the Rural Development Ministry has approved a labour budget of 198.86 crore persondays. Of this, 67.11 per cent—or 133.45 crore persondays — are projected to be created in the first half of the financial year. As of June 8, 2025, the Centre has released Rs 24,485 crore, which is 28.47 per cent of MGNREGS's total allocation of Rs 86,000 crore for the year. Finance Ministry officials are also learnt to have raised questions about the pending liabilities from the previous year. Citing provisions of the MGNREGA Act, 2005—which mandate that wages must be paid within 15 days—they questioned how dues of over Rs 21,000 crore were still pending for the last fortnight (March 15–31) of the 2024–25 financial year. Launched in 200 of the country's most backward rural districts in 2006–07, MGNREGS was expanded to 130 more districts in 2007–08 and rolled out nationwide in 2008–09. The scheme saw a surge in demand during 2020–21, when a record 7.55 crore rural families accessed work under it amid the Covid-19 outbreak. It became a key safety net for migrant workers returning to their villages during the lockdown. Since then, the number of families employed under the scheme has steadily declined—7.25 crore in 2021–22, 6.18 crore in 2022–23, 5.99 crore in 2023–24, and 5.79 crore in 2024–25. These figures do not include beneficiaries from West Bengal, where the scheme has been suspended since March 2022. Harikishan Sharma, Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express' National Bureau, specializes in reporting on governance, policy, and data. He covers the Prime Minister's Office and pivotal central ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Rural Development, and Ministry of Jal Shakti. His work primarily revolves around reporting and policy analysis. In addition to this, he authors a weekly column titled "STATE-ISTICALLY SPEAKING," which is prominently featured on The Indian Express website. In this column, he immerses readers in narratives deeply rooted in socio-economic, political, and electoral data, providing insightful perspectives on these critical aspects of governance and society. ... Read More
The Hindu
06-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme labour budget cut to 12 crore person-days in Tamil Nadu
Around 88 lakh beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Tamil Nadu have to be accommodated, as of now, within the reduced labour budget of 12 crore person-days during 2025-26. The State government had originally proposed 35 crore person-days, adopting a 'bottom-up' approach from village panchayats. Centre's nod However, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj is optimistic of the Union government's approval for an increase in the labour budget for the State in the course of the current year. The reason is not far to seek. During 2024-25 too, Tamil Nadu was allotted only 20 crore person-days. Eventually, the Centre gave approval for around 10 crore more person-days, taking the total number of person-days generated to 30.61 crore. Target and performance of select districts District Person-days allocated during 2025-26 (in lakh) Person-days generated as on June 6, 2025 (in lakh) Person-days generated during 2024-25 (in lakh) Tiruvannamalai 110 12.26 229.66 Villupuram 81 3.85 178.63 Cuddalore 75 7.65 155.82 Tiruvallur 64 5.5 128.94 Pudukkottai 60 4.99 126.01 Madurai 54 1.41 118.69 Virudhunagar 49 2.95 99.88 Dindigul 46 1.84 97.22 Krishnagiri 44 2.65 100.47 Sivagangai 42 1.72 84.74 An official of the department says that after achieving 9.6 crore (80%) person-days, a proposal will be sent to the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) for an increase in the labour budget. Delay in wages Early this year, the delay in the payments of wages made the headlines, prompting Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to take exception. As the MGNREGS is a Central government scheme, the Union government bears the entire wage for unskilled labour. Out of a total unskilled wage expenditure of ₹8,375 crore during 2024-25, the beneficiaries have been paid ₹8,347 crore. A sum of ₹28 crore is yet to be released by the MoRD. As for the current year, ₹122 crore has been paid to the beneficiaries in wages and ₹170 crore is yet to be credited into their accounts, and it will be done shortly, the official points out, adding that the actual sanction has been taken for ₹944.56 crore. On Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu government notified the revised schedule of wage, which has been increased from ₹319 to ₹336. The workload has been increased proportionately, according to an order issued by the State Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.
Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Rural ministry seeks 12% hike in outlay of Rs 5.23 lakh crore for MGNREGS over 5 years
The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has sought an outlay of Rs 5.23 lakh crore for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for five years until 2029-30 in its May 15 proposal to the Expenditure Finance Committee, The Indian Express has learnt. EFC is a panel under the Finance Ministry that appraises all government schemes and projects. The outlay for five years till 2029-30 is about 12 per cent higher than the Central release of Rs 4.68 lakh crore for MGNREGS during the previous five financial years, 2020-21 to 2024-25. The release had peaked at Rs 1,09,810 crore in 2020-21, the first full year after Covid outbreak. During this year, there was a spike in demand for work when a record 7.55 crore rural families availed the scheme, which became a safety net for migrants who returned to their villages after a national lockdown was imposed. The Central release progressively declined to Rs 85,680 crore in 2024-25, the lowest in the last five years. The number of families working under the scheme gradually dropped over the years — 7.25 crore in 2021-22; 6.18 crore in 2022-23; 5.99 crore in 2023-24; and 5.79 crore in 2024-25. In 2024-25, the total Central release was Rs 85,680 crore. The last three financial years (2022-23 to 2024-25) do not include MGNREGS beneficiaries' figures for West Bengal, where the scheme has been suspended since March 2022. Sources in the government said the EFC appraisal and approval is part of the Centre's exercise to evaluate and approve its schemes for the next Finance Commission cycle. The MGNREGS is backed by law and therefore the EFC approval is just a formality. The outlay proposed by the MoRD is just 'estimated' and is 'subject to change' as the MGNREGS is a demand-driven scheme, they said. The scheme is notified by different states and UTs under Section 4 of the MGNREG Act 2005, which says that 'every State Government shall, within six months from the date of commencement of this Act, by notification, make a Scheme, for providing not less than one hundred days of guaranteed employment in a financial year to every household in the rural areas covered under the Scheme and whose adult members, by application, volunteer to do unskilled manual work subject to the conditions laid down by or under this Act and in the Scheme…' Section 22 of the Act provides for funding patterns of the scheme. According to the Act, the Central government is responsible for paying 100 per cent cost of three components — wages, administrative expenses and Social Audit Units (SAUs) — and up to three-fourths of the material cost of the scheme, including payment of wages to skilled and semi-skilled workers, subject to provisions of Schedule II of the Act. The state governments are responsible for meeting the costs of the following: (a) cost of unemployment allowance payable under the scheme; (b) one-fourth of the material cost of the scheme, including payment of wages to skilled and semi-skilled workers, subject to provisions of Schedule II; (c) administrative expenses of the State Council. 'No change is proposed in the current funding pattern across all components,' a source told The Indian Express. The MGNREGS was launched in 200 most backward rural districts of the country in 2006-07 and was extended to an additional 130 districts during 2007-08; and to the entire country from financial year 2008-09. The MoRD has circulated the EFC note at a time when the government has set in motion the process of prioritising its schemes for the 16th finance cycle starting April 1 next year. The Ministry of Finance has told all ministries and departments that no Centrally Sponsored Scheme or Central Sector Scheme will be considered for continuation beyond March 31, 2026, unless a third-party evaluation of the scheme is carried out. According to the Finance Ministry, there are 54 Centrally Sponsored Schemes and 260 Central Sector Schemes, which have their terminal date of approval until March 31, 2026 and are likely to be submitted for re-appraisal. Harikishan Sharma, Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express' National Bureau, specializes in reporting on governance, policy, and data. He covers the Prime Minister's Office and pivotal central ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Rural Development, and Ministry of Jal Shakti. His work primarily revolves around reporting and policy analysis. In addition to this, he authors a weekly column titled "STATE-ISTICALLY SPEAKING," which is prominently featured on The Indian Express website. In this column, he immerses readers in narratives deeply rooted in socio-economic, political, and electoral data, providing insightful perspectives on these critical aspects of governance and society. ... Read More
