With the flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme set to be rolled out all over the country from April one, the Union Budget 2008-09 has made an allocation of Rs 16,000 crore for the programme.

"Let there be no apprehension in anyone's mind: as demand rises, more money will be provided to meet the legal guarantee of employment," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in his Budget speech.

The scheme, that has come under the scanner after the CAG has come down heavily on it for corruption, is being extended from the current 330 districts to all 596 districts in the country.

Chidambaram made special mention of the eight flagship programmes of the Government, including NREGS, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, National Rural Health Mission and Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission in his Budget speech.

He said the allocation for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission will be increased from Rs 5,482 crore (Rs 54.82 billion) in 2007-08 to Rs 6,866 crore (Rs 68.66 billion) in 2008-09.

The Budget enhanced the allocation to the Drinking Water Mission from Rs 6,500 crore (Rs 65 billion) to Rs 7,300 crore (Rs 73 billion).

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