Jaitley unveils pro-poor budget, pledges reforms

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the Union Budget 2016-17 on Monday and he laid out the roadmap to “ensure macro-economic stability and prudent fiscal management”.

The Budget, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament yesterday, underscores government’s continued commitment to gradually broaden the ambitious reform agenda.

Besides, government’s fiscal credibility was supported with the budget maintaining the previously communicated deficit target of 3.5 per cent of GDP for next fiscal, as well as by the central government meeting its deficit target of 3.9 per cent in current fiscal in present fiscal. The government has also proposed Rs 1,000 crore for Higher Education Financing Agency.

“We have the sacred responsibility to spend it prudently and wisely for the welfare of our people, especially the poor and the downtrodden”, the finance minister said.

He also allocated Rs 15,000 crore for interest subvention on the farm credit, Rs 5,500 crore for the new crop insurance scheme and Rs 500 crore to boost pulses output. Jaitley said Rs 655 crore has been set aside in 2016-17. It was the highest in 2010-11 when expenditure on the scheme was Rs 39,377 crore.

Congress VP Rahul Gandhi had, however, mocked PM Narendra Modi saying his government’s praise of MGNREGA is a “shining example” of his “political wisdom” as he only had called the UPA’s job guarantee scheme a “living monument of Congress failure”.

Shri Jaitley announced that almost 10,000 KMs of National Highways are expected to be approved in 2016-17.

We, at FADA, welcome the amendments that are proposed to be made in the Motor Vehicles Act to open up the road transport sector in the passenger segment, which will impart pace to the development of transport sector while giving impetus to the commercial vehicle segment, in particular.

“There are about 160 airports and air strips with state governments which can be revived at an indicative cost of Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 100 crore each”, the minister stated.

While there are no changes in personal income tax slabs, the ceiling of tax rebate for tax-payers with up to Rs 5 lakh annual will be raised to Rs 5000 from Rs 2000 now.

For the common man, the government has proposed that the limit of deduction of rent paid under U/s. 80 GG increased to Rs60,000 from Rs24,000. I would like to outline three specific initiatives that I think will go a long way in creating an educated, healthier and stronger India: The government’s aim to double income of farmers in five years; new initiatives to increase irrigation access, and its objective to skill 1-crore youth in the next three years.