President Droupadi Murmu signed three social welfare ordinances on Tuesday promulgated by the Union Cabinet during the Parliament recess, covering enhanced MGNREGA daily wage rates for rural workers, expanded PM Awas Yojana coverage to include 5 lakh additional beneficiaries in Scheduled Tribe communities, and a new Pradhan Mantri Matru Vatsalya scheme providing monthly Rs 2,000 direct benefit transfers to below-poverty-line citizens above the age of 70. The ordinances are estimated to cost the exchequer approximately Rs 18,000 crore annually.
Finance Ministry sources said the spending is fully accommodated within the Union Budget and does not require supplementary grants. The opposition demanded that Parliament be recalled for a special session to debate the ordinances rather than promulgating them during recess, calling the move an attempt to avoid legislative scrutiny. Minister of Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the ordinances will benefit over 3 crore families and called them an expression of the government commitment to leaving no one behind. The welfare measures are widely seen as a precursor to the upcoming assembly election cycle in five states.
