A budget for an energised India with focus on poverty alleviation

Malvika S Lamba

All eyes and minds were on the key takeaways and sops likely to be introduced during the historic Budget session of 2017 which for the first time saw the railway and the Union budget getting merged into one and with the session being called in February instead of in March or April.

The budget is also being keenly followed to see how the Government will play its stand after its unique experiment with demonetisation which saw 86% of the currency being washed away from the economy over night starting November 8^th, 2016. For all these reasons and more the budget of 2017 has been hailed as an Uttam budget by the Prime Minister who congratulated the Finance Minister on bringing forth progress along with focus on social justice.

Contrary to the opposition’s position the Finance Minister quoted the World bank while stating that India remains one of the brightest stars in the global economy with a promise to grow exponentially. He also reiterated that the effects of demonetisation will not spill over into next year and that the pace of remonetisation has picked up significantly.

True to the Gandhian philosophy that ‘a right cause never fails’, FM also introduced the vision for the session 2017 – 18 to transform, energise and cleanse the Indian economy TEC India where the Government can spend more on rural areas, poverty alleviation and infrastructure growth with fiscal prudence in order to reach optimal social justice.

With an eye on poverty alleviation the FM promised that all efforts are underway to alleviate 1 crore families from the status of below poverty line. MNREGA got an unprecedented Rs 48,000 crore allocation, the highest ever along with agriculture expenditure targeted at Rs 10 lakh crore which could boost agrarian economy’s growth to increase at 4.6% rate.

Over all the total allocation for rural agriculture and allied sectors is higher than even last year with total allotment amounting to Rs 187223 crore, making it 24% higher than last year. Working in favour of social justice the government also announced its intention of making one crore houses for the poor and provide safe drinking water in habitations affected by polluted underground water over the next 4 years. This will be in addition to the allocation towards the gramin sadak yojna where 133 kms road will be constructed on daily basis with the aim of connecting all hinterlands with main cities and towns.

 The other focus area was the Small scale industries along with impetus in the infrastructure area. Income tax has now been reduced to 25% for small companies with an annual turnover of up to Rs 50 crore. The move is aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship in the country along with encouraging  small companies to migrate to company format thereby directly affecting almost 96% companies which will benefit from lower taxation.

Senior citizens too got relief from the budget with cuts in their tax returns along with linking their adhaar cards to their health care therefore making it easier for them to avail medical care.