The Editorial Page: Rahul, Priyanka name-calling ECs is a disturbing new low 10 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2025 JOURNALISM of COURAGE jAIpuR, LATE CITy, 16 pAGES ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I Ly f R o M : A h M E DA B A D , C h A N D I GA R h , D E L h I , j A I p u R , ko L k ATA , Lu C k N o w , M u M B A I , N AG p u R , pAT N A , p u N E , vA D o DA R A PosTal regn. no. JaiPur ciTy/001/2024-26 Happening today l IPL 2026 mInI auctIon is scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi at 2.30 pm IST. A total of 350 players — 239 Indians and 111 from overseas — will go under the hammer with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots. lDefence mInIster Rajnath Singh will confer the Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence in public service in the field of Defence Land Management and Municipal Administration of 61 Cantonment Boards across the country. Track These and more on WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Business as Usual By EP UNNY NATION PAGE 3 FORMER JUSTICE SECY RAJ KUMAR GOYAL IS NEW CIC A 1990-batch IAS officer, he has also served in the Home Ministry and MEA noW 125 Days of GuaranteeD emPLoyment Govt changes NREG: States to pay, pause for farm work States asked to fund 40% of rural job scheme 125 Days’ employment guarantee, up from 100 now 60-Day no-work period during peak agriculture seasons states to share fiscal burden normatIve aLLocatIon, Harikishan sharma of unskilled wage bill; currently, the Central government pays 100 per cent unlike MGNREGA’s demand based labour budget; Centre to fix state-wise allocation New Delhi, December 15 IN A major overhaul of the twodecade-old rural job guarantee scheme, the BJP-led NDA government, in its third term, has prepared a Bill that proposes to increase the number of days for which work can be demanded by rural households in a year to 125 from 100 now, and for the first time shifts 40 per cent of the financial burden of the scheme to states. For the last 20 years, since the rural employment guarantee law was enacted by the Congress-led UPA government in 2005, the Centre has been footing 100 per cent of the wage costs. Wages account for threefourth of the entire expenditure under the scheme. Materials used in the works account for the balance one-fourth, and this cost is shared by the Centre and states in the ratio of 75:25. The proposed Bill has projected the annual spending on the new scheme to be Rs 1,51,282 crore in the first full year post implementation. It estimates the Centre’s share to be Rs 95,692.31 crore, suggesting that states would have to »contInueD on PaGe 2 l Four key features in the Bill Before nDa, uPa too discussed halting work, sharing cost Draft roLLs In fIve states/uts toDay Law says only local official can issue notice to electors; in Bihar, poll panel sent pre-filled notices May not have led to deletions but process raises questions of jurisdiction under election law EXPRESS E. exclusive EXPLAINED manoj cG Process is problem New Delhi, December 15 Damini nath Ally TDP: Fund sharing concerning… it will put a lot of burden on state sreenivas Janyala Hyderabad, December 15 WITH THE Centre’s Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G Ram G Bill, 2025, likely to put a higher financial burden on the States’ exchequer with its provision to share funding of the scheme, Andhra Pradesh’s finance minister has said they will “support and implement it”, though the sharing of funding is “concerning” and “would put a burden on the state”. The BJP and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are allies at the Centre and in the state. When The Indian Express pointed out the funding pattern of the new scheme, Andhra’s Finance, Planning, and Legislative Affairs Minister Payyavula Keshav said the government will study the provisions of the Bill, and that it will support and implement it. “Definitely, the funding sharing »contInueD on PaGe 2 AMONG THE major changes that the NDA government has proposed to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act architecture is halting the scheme during peak farming seasons and moving it from a Centre-funded model to a costsharing arrangement with states. While the Opposition, including the Congress, has hit out at the government, these issues were points of debates and contention during the UPA government as well. In 2011, Sharad Pawar, as Agriculture Minister in the UPA-II government, had called for halting NREGA works during sowing and harvesting seasons, saying the scheme was adversely affecting the agriculture sector by drawing out farm labourers from agricultural operations. Pawar then wanted the scheme to be paused for at least three months during the »contInueD on PaGe 2 MORE REPORTS, PAGES 5, 7 Patna, Siwan, New Delhi, December 15 AS NOTICES begin going out on Tuesday to electors with the publication of draft rolls in five states and UTs under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a procedural red flag from Bihar has set off concern within the election machinery. In the closing fortnight of the Bihar SIR in September, The Indian Express has learnt, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) across the state found “pre-filled notices” appearing on their individual log-ins on the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) centralised portal. These notices, estimated to be in lakhs but no number has been provided by the EC, were addressed to Bihar electors who had already submitted their forms and supporting documents and whose names figured in the draft rolls published in August. Significantly, while the notices bore the names of the The Bihar notices, pre-filled and sent by EC, may not point to substantive wrongdoing. But they flag a procedural question at the heart of electoral integrity: when the law assigns responsibility to a local statutory authority, central interventions can unsettle the chain of accountability. The notices were sent in the closing fortnight of Bihar sir EROs, they had not been generated by them. This departure matters because the law is clear. Under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, it is the ERO of the Assembly constituency, and only the ERO, who is empowered to doubt an elector’s eligibility and issue a notice calling for a hearing. Indeed, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has also underlined this principle. At an August 17 press conference, describing electoral revision as a “decentralised construct”, Kumar said: “Neither I nor my fellow Election Commissioners nor any EC official or you can add or delete votes, except for following the legal process.” It is against this statutory and institutional backdrop that the Bihar episode raised eyebrows among several EROs, many of whom are learnt to have chosen not to act on or pursue the notices. This episode did not translate into mass deletions. According to official data, of the 68.66 lakh deletions recorded during the Bihar revision, only »contInueD on PaGe 2 In Pahalgam chargesheet, NIA points to crucial link: Two phones bought in Pak naveed Iqbal Srinagar, December 15 TWO ANDROID phones found at the site of the Dachigam encounter in July are clinching evidence that the Pahalgam terrorists were from Pakistan, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) chargesheet filed in connection with the April terror attack states, it is learnt. The chargesheet was filed before the Special NIA Court in Jammu on Monday. Speaking in the Lok Sabha INSIDE PAGES 3, 4 nia officials filed the chargesheet, over 1,500 pages, at a special court in Jammu on monday. ANI Sydney, December 15 SC CRITICISES ‘SPECIAL PUJAS’ FOR THE RICH AT BANKE BIHARI »contInueD on PaGe 2 Gunmen in Sydney’s Bondi beach attack identified as father and son reuters MODI LANDS IN AMMAN, LOOKS TO BOOST TIES in July, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced that three terrorists gunned down in the Dachigam forest area on the outskirts of Srinagar were the same as those involved in the April 22 terror attack. He identified the three as Suleiman alias Faisal Jatt, Afghan and Jibran, and said they had all come from Pakistan. The NIA chargesheet has relied on, among other things, the two phones found at the encounter site, sources said, THE TWO alleged gunmen who killed 15 people at a Jewish celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday were a father and son, police said on Monday, as Australia began mourning victims of its worst gun violence in almost 30 years. The father, a 50-year-old shopowner, was killed at the scene, taking the number of People pay tribute to the victims of the attack, in sydney. REuTERS relaTed rePorT, Page 12 dead to 16, while his 24-year-old son was in a critical condition in hospital, police said at a press conference on Monday. Police did not release the shooters’ names, but said the son was known to authorities and the father had a firearms license since 2015 and had six licensed weapons. The father and son were identified as Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram, respectively, by »contInueD on PaGe 2 l amid allegaTions congress leader had reclaimed Bulk of The PaPers in 2008 Standoff looming over Nehru papers, Sonia tells PMs’ museum her staff ‘will look into it’ PAGE 1 anchor Divya a New Delhi, December 15 MOVING TO avert a potential standoff, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has assured the Prime Ministers’ Museum & Library (PMML) of her cooperation in its bid to obtain a trove of private papers of the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, The Indian Express has learnt. Sources told this newspaper The Prime ministers’ museum & library had written to sonia gandhi twice this year seeking access to these papers. ABhINAv SAhA that this is the first time Gandhi has responded to a communication from PMML in the wake of allegations that a bulk of these papers, in 51 cartons, were reclaimed by her from the organisation in 2008, when it was known as Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML). Gandhi has conveyed that “her staff will look into it”, sources said. PMML, which is an autonomous institution under the Union Culture Ministry, and Gandhi’s office did not respond to requests for comment from »contInueD on PaGe 2 FERARI WORLDTM YAS ISLAND, ABU DHABI One Island. Four Worlds. Infinite Smiles. Yas Island with Veena World! Chalo, Bag Bharo, Nikal Pado! Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi and SeaWorld Yas Island, all packed into one incredible Yas Island adventure. Yas Island with Veena World is truly for every family and everyone in the family. The best weather window of the year is now open, and the kids’ excitement starts here. Veena World makes it seamless. Choose a group tour or a fully customized private getaway, and turn your next UAE trip into a blockbuster your family will never forget. Group Tours Customized Holiday Best Of Dubai Women's Special Seniors' Special Abu Dhabi+Yas Dubai+Abu Dhabi - 6 Days Abu Dhabi (7D) Dubai Abu Dhabi Dubai Abu Dhabi Island stay (7D) 145000 (4D) 1,05,000 1,16,000 (7D) 135000 135K - 155K Group tour price includes return ex-Mumbai airfare, transport, accommodation, all meals: breakfast - lunch- dinner, sightseeing with entrance fees, driver tips, travel insurance*, services of a Tour Manager and VISA fee. Customized holiday price includes hotels, meals, sightseeing, transfers and approx. ex-Mumbai airfare of ₹30,000. Travel hassle-free with the Veena World Tour Manager at your service veenaworld.com | Call: 1800 313 5555 | Monday-Sunday 10 to 7 | travel@veenaworld.com All group tours are ex-Mumbai. Tour price is per person and on twin sharing basis. These tour prices are nett and no discount is applicable. At the time of booking, tour price to be paid in full INR by UPI/NEFT/RTGS/Cheque, in the name of ‘Veena Patil Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.’ No cash transactions at Veena World. Government taxes apply. Any increase in YQ taxes, airport taxes, VISA fees, surcharges (if any) will have to be borne by the travellers. T&C apply. Jaipur