News Analysis India

Tag: 2022 Budget

  • Taking cue from Budget, MP government to carry out organic farming along Narmada river

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Taking a cue from the Union budget proposal of staring chemical-free farming along the Ganga, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to carry out organic farming along the Narmada river, which is considered as the lifeline of the state, an official said on Thursday.

    The decision was taken at a meeting of ministers and top bureaucrats chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday, he said.

    “A special campaign should be launched to develop natural farming on a 5-km stretch on both sides of Narmada river,” the chief minister said in the meeting.

    Chouhan also urged ministers who farm to switch to organic farming on their land, the official said.

    The state government’s decision has come a day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech said that chemical-free farming will be promoted throughout the country, starting with fields within a 5-km wide corridor along the Ganga.

    Narmada, the fifth longest river in the country, originates from Amarkantak in Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh and traverses 1,077 km of the state.

  • Budget is betrayal of salaried, middle classes: Congress hits out at Modi government

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Minister Narendra Modi of betraying the country’s salaried and middle classes by not announcing any relief measures for them in the Union Budget.

    Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the salaried and the middle classes have been affected due to pay cuts and high inflation.

    “India’s salaried class and middle class were hoping for relief in times of pandemic, all round pay cuts and back breaking inflation. FM and PM have again deeply disappointed them in Direct Tax measures,” Surjewala said on Twitter.

    “This is a betrayal of India’s Salaried Class and Middle Class. #Budget2022,” he said in his initial remarks on the Union Budget.

    The comments came soon after the finance minister presented the union budget for 2022-23 in Parliament.

  • Budget 2022: Child rights NGOs demand increased allocation for elimination of child labour

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Noting that safety of children should be the centrepiece of the Union Budget, child rights organisations have demanded an increased allocation for elimination of child labour and more investment in strengthening the social safety-net.

    They also said that effective preventive mechanisms need to be accelerated on an immediate basis. The Union Budget 2022-23 will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

    Executive Director Kailash Satyarthi Foundation Jyoti Mathur said the overall percentage share of budget allocation for children in the Union Budget must be improved, and it should be restored at least to the level of 2020-21.

    “It is noteworthy to mention here that the percentage share of the Union Budget allocated for the welfare of children has been reduced from 3.16 per cent (2020-21) to 2.46 per cent (2021-22). This is the lowest share of the budget allocated for the welfare of children in the last 11 years,” she said.

    “In addition, if we look at the budget allocation for the previous two years, the total budget allocated towards the welfare of children has declined by 11 per cent in 2021-22 over 2020-21 (a decline from Rs 96,042 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 85,713 crore in 2021-22),” she said.

    There should also be an increased allocation for elimination of child labour with a comprehensive national action plan, Mathur added. Other suggestions include enhanced budgetary allocation for rehabilitation of bonded labour, which is a part of the overall budget head of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP).

    “Since the budget head of the NCLP also includes grants-in-aid to voluntary agencies and reimbursement of assistance to bonded labour it appears impossible to provide any assistance to the victims of bonded labour as the allocation is grossly inadequate even to maintain the fixed expenditure under the NCLP,” she said.

    Mathur highlighted the need for establishing an international Centre to address incidences of ‘online child sexual abuse’.

    Chief Executive Officer of CRY-Child Rights and You, Puja Marwaha, said children should be placed at the centre of any development discourse – both for themselves and for the inclusive growth of the country – and this should be the centrepiece of the Union Budget.

    Elaborating on the multiple impacts of the Covid pandemic on children, she said, “Experiences and learnings from prior humanitarian crises have shown that children tend to be disproportionately affected during such critical times and their rights, lives and well-being are at risk of irreparable harm.

    ” “Owing to disruptions in education and health-care systems, lack of access to nutrition and protection services over the past two years, their vulnerabilities, especially within rural areas and marginalised communities have increased multiple times,” Marwaha sadi.

    COVID-19 has impacted children in diverse ways – be it physical, emotional, cognitive, or social repercussions, including transition or migration, familial crises, isolation from friends, discontinuity of learning, environment, quarantine, hospitalisation of self or family members, and entry into adult roles of work or marriage, she said.

    Consequently, the lives of India’s children were severely restricted in terms of their access to education, nutrition and development, and child protection, Marwaha added.

    Underscoring the importance of adequate provisioning for the child protection systems, she said, “Given the increase in numbers of children facing risks such as entry into child labour or marriage, more investment in strengthening the social safety-net and effective preventive mechanisms needs to be accelerated on an immediate basis.”

  • Made in India vaccines playing important role in making COVID-free world: President Ram Nath Kovind

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday highlighted the achievements of the Modi government’s mega COVID-19 vaccination drive, and noted that 150 crore doses were administered to the country’s citizens in a record time.

    In his address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session, Kovind said the Rs 64,000 crore PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission will prepare the country for a health crisis in the future. “We have administered 150 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines in a record time,” he said.

    The President said more than 70 per cent beneficiaries of the vaccination drive have been administered the second dose. Flagging other achievements of the central government, he said that over six crore rural households are getting tap water under ‘Har Ghar Jal initiative’.

    Kovind said that India’s agriculture exports have also crossed Rs three lakh crore. He said despite the pandemic, country’s farmers produced 30 crore tonnes of food grains and 33 crore horticulture produce in 2020-21.

    The President said more than 11 crore farmer families received Rs 1.80 lakh crore through PM-KISAN and big changes have been seen in the farm sector. He said that the Government procured more than 433 lakh metric tonnes of wheat, which benefited more than 50 lakh farmers.

    The session begins ahead of the crucial assembly elections in five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

  • Naidu, Birla discuss Covid-safe Budget Session

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday discussed preparations for the Budget session of Parliament amid the surge in coronavirus cases.

    The session begins Monday with the address of President Ram Nath Kovind to members of both the Houses.

    During the meet, Birla suggested that members of both the Houses can be seated at different locations by name to avoid confusion, crowding, and inquiries. Naidu accepted the suggestion, parliamentary sources said.

    Due to Covid norms, the two Houses are meeting at different times. Members of the two Houses will be accommodated in chambers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as well as galleries to prevent crowding.

    To implement the sitting arrangement by name, parties have been approached to draw up a list of members who would be accommodated in various locations. Seats were allotted in chambers and galleries of both the Houses based on the strength of parties.

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    Given the reduction in the time of sitting of both the Houses by one hour per sitting due to staggered timings, Naidu and Birla took stock of the time available for different items of business. They underscored the need for cooperation from all sections of both the Houses for effective utilisation of available time.

    While Rajya Sabha would meet from 10 am to 3 pm, the Lok Sabha would sit from 4 pm to 9 pm. Officials informed the two presiding officers that the Parliament House complex has been sanitised and all possible measures are being taken to contain the spread of coronavirus.

    They were told that all MPs have been requested to take RT-PCR test 48 before the commencement of the Session. Part one of the session would end on February 11. The second part would begin on March 14 and conclude on April 8.

  • Opposition to raise farmers’ issues, Pegasus matter in Budget Session of Parliament

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The stage is set for a stormy Budget Session of Parliament that begins on Monday with the opposition set to target the Modi government on issues such as the Pegasus snooping row, farm distress and Chinese “incursions” in eastern Ladakh.

    The session will begin with President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha assembled together in the Central Hall and chambers of both the Houses in view of the COVID-19 situation.

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Economic Survey 2021-22 on Monday and the Union Budget on Tuesday.

    Given the ongoing third wave of the pandemic, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will return to have separate sittings in shifts with members seated across both chambers of Parliament to ensure distancing norms.

    The Lok Sabha will take up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address from Wednesday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reply to the debate on February seven.

    Lok Sabha secretariat officials said four days beginning February 2 have been provisionally allotted for the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.

    The first part of the Budget Session will be held from January 31 to February 11 after which it will go into recess to examine the budgetary allocations for different departments.

    The Session would resume on March 14 and conclude on April 8.

    The Budget Session is taking place amid a heated election campaign in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur – which go to polls in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.

    The main opposition Congress has declared that it will reach out to like-minded parties to raise issues such as farm distress, Chinese “incursions”, demand for relief package for COVID-19 victims, sale of Air India and the Pegasus snooping row during the session.

    Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu are set to chair separate meetings with floor leaders of political parties on Monday to ensure smooth functioning of the House during the session.