News Analysis India

Tag: Union Budget 2022

  • Cuts in social welfare schemes, no steps to address inflation or job creation: Shashi Tharoor slams Budget

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Attacking the Centre over Budget 2022-23, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said there were significant cuts in allocation of social welfare schemes, no measures to address rising inflation and nil targeted effort for job creation.

    Initiating the discussion on the Budget in Lok Sabha, Tharoor said COVID-19 pandemic has placed citizens in unimaginable distress who suffered a lot of pain due to loss of lives between March and May last year.

    In this context, he said, the presentation of the budget cannot merely be seen as a purely routine economic exercise or state forward accounting, adding that the budget is an instrument through which the government presents a political vision to manage the economy, heal the country and set it on the path to recovery.

    “The budget has given a significant slashing in MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme, more tokenism in credit support for MSME sector, no changes in personal income tax regime and no relief in terms of addressing rising inflation as well as nil targeted efforts for job creation,” he said.

    The Budget has proposed creation of “inadequate” 60 lakh jobs in five years, which is “a far cry from the 2 crore jobs the government had promised in the equally illusory “acche din” (good days), Tharoor said.

    He added that there are reductions in budgets for social welfare schemes and significant cuts in schemes for crop insurance, MSP (minimum support price) and fertliser, which has left many farmer groups to term this Budget as a “revenge budget”.

    The Congress leader also claimed a huge dip in the incomes of lakhs of people in the last five years.

    While the wealth of richest 100 Indians soared by Rs 57 lakh crore, 4.7 crore Indians slipped into extreme poverty, he said, adding that the government has not recognised the problems which they have caused and the widespread anguish they have inflicted on “aam aadmi” (common man).

    People, he said, were expecting that the government will acknowledge the problem that the nation is facing, “acknowledge the fact that the nation is facing unprecedented levels of unemployment which has left countless citizens, specially our youth and dynamic working group population, with little prospects of brighter tomorrow”.

  • CBI may go for modernisation and renovations of units with hiked allocations in union budget

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: With the allocation of Rs 911.86 crore in the union budget for the establishment expenditure during the fiscal year of 2022-23, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the country’s premier investigation agency, may go further for a mega renovation of training establishments, modernization of its forensic units and completion of other establishment-related on-going works.

    Sources said that the Central Bureau of Investigation, tasked with investigating and prosecuting major corruption and criminal cases, may also go for reducing the existing shortages of personnel and officials in addition to the modernisation and renovation works during the fiscal year of 2022-23.

    As per an official figure, the Central Bureau of Investigation was allotted Rs 835.39 crore to meet its establishment expenditures during the previous 2021-22. And that amount was further revised and enhanced to Rs 870.50 from Rs 835.39 crore for 2021-22.

    ” This year, the total allocation in the union budget of the country for the CBI has been made to Rs 911.86 crore-that is around 4.75% hike from the previous year’s allocation”, a source added.

    At present, the CBI has a working strength of 5,899 officials and personnel against the total sanctioned strength of 7,272 as on March 31 in 2020. So, the vacancies for 1,374 posts, right from the rank of the executive to the canteen posts, amid an increase in the number of cases for investigations exist in theagency.

    “In such a requiring situation, the agency will certainly go for reducing shortages of staffs and manpower with a chunk of fund earmarking from the allotted amounts”, hoped a source.

    With a good number of cases related to corruption frauds, high-profile criminal activities and others of serious natures being referred by the Courts and recommended by the respective states every year for investigation for last few years, the agency has an urgent need to revamp its strength as well asestablishment units further.

    As the finance minister read-out during her 4th consecutive budget speech, the allocation has been made to the CBI for establishment-related expenditures as the agency is tasked with investigating of corruption cases lodged against the public officials, private individuals, businesses and other major crimes.

    It is also learnt that the CBI may also utilize a substantial amount earmarking out of a total allocation for purchasing land and starting construction works of new offices and other residential units on the purchased land in future.

  • Budget stayed away from tax incentives to individuals for investing into housing

    By Express News Service

    The Indian economy is resilient and has rebound and grown on the basis of strong fundamentals. The economy has sustained multiple shocks of Demonetisation, GST, RERA and credit crisis of NBFCs. Humanity is currently facing a pandemic which has resulted in unemployment, income losses, business model dislocation and the biggest of all, an uneven economic recovery.

    The ‘K’ shaped economic recovery created a wide divide between the bottom and the top of the income pyramid. Our biggest impediment to growth is rising inflation, interest rates and unsustainable oil prices, and hence the budget blueprint is crucial.

    This budget tried laying the path for next 25 years, focusing immediately through the PM Gati Shakti with seven engines — infra push, multimodal transportation, logistic parks, partnership with state governments for urban planning and development etc. Surely it will help the economic recovery. A critical sector like real estate will see positive impact in medium to long term. Infrastructure status to data centres and energy storage systems including charging infra etc is a step in right direction. This will attract lots of global capital. 

    The thrust on digital, fintech, healthtech, edutech, clean teach and journey towards Prop tech have been initiated, but the devil lies in the details. Real estate needs more ‘end to end’ digitisation. This brings in transparency, disclosures and governance with ease of acquiring and selling homes. Also announced is the intention to bring in ‘One nation one registration software’ which is a most interesting and much required reform.

    This budget stayed away from tax incentives to individuals for investing into housing and is surely a missed opportunity. Finally, this is a growth-oriented budget with focus on government capex and employment generation through revival in infra-related sectors. This may help continue momentum in real estate if execution of earlier reforms and new announcements budget are implemented seamlessly.

     Sunil Rohokale MD & CEO of ASK Group

  • 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.

  • Nothing for middle class, poor in Union Budget: Rahul Gandhi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the government had delivered a “zero-sum budget” that has nothing for the middle class, farmers and the poor, drawing a derisive response from Union ministers who suggested that the opposition leader had not understood the “futuristic” measures.

    As the two sides exchanged barbs, the opposition party also hit out at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, accusing her of insulting the people of Uttar Pradesh with her remarks and demanding that she apologise to them.

    “There is despair all around our country, our youth have no future and once again the Modi govt’s budget completely ignores this painful reality. #Budget2022,” Gandhi said in a post on Instagram.

    “M0di G0vernment’s Zer0 Sum Budget! Nothing for – Salaried class, Middle class, the poor and deprived, Youth, Farmers and MSMEs (sic),” he said on Twitter.

    Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, who is also an MP from Uttar Pradesh, said “probably, Rahul Gandhi did not understand the budget, which is futuristic”.

    Reacting to Chaudhary’s remarks on Rahul Gandhi, Finance Minister Sitharaman said, “I think he (Chaudhary) has given that typical UP-type of an answer which is good enough for an MP who ran away from UP.”

    “I wish as the leader of the oldest political party, Rahul Gandhi should understand what is being said,” the finance minister said, adding that he should do something in the Congress-ruled states first before commenting on the BJP government.

    Union Minister Piyush Goyal also hit out at Rahul Gandhi saying he has a negative attitude towards everything this government does. “Rahul Gandhi has a problem with mathematics, he will look at everything which has a sum of zero,” Goyal said.

    M0di G0vernment’s Zer0 Sum Budget!Nothing for- Salaried class- Middle class- The poor & deprived- Youth- Farmers- MSMEs
    — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 1, 2022
    Later reacting to Sitharaman’s remarks, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Twitter, “You did not put anything for UP in the bag of Budget. but what was the need to insult people of UP in this manner?” “Understand, the people of UP are proud to be ‘UP-type’. We are proud of the language, dialect, culture and history of UP,” the Congress general secretary in-charge UP said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag “UP Mera Abhiman (UP my pride)”.

    ..@nsitharaman जी आपने यूपी के लिए बजट के झोले में कुछ डाला नहीं, ठीक है…लेकिन यू पी के लोगों का इस तरह अपमान करने की क्या ज़रूरत थी?समझ लीजिए, यूपी के लोगों को “यूपी टाइप” होने पर गर्व है। हमको यूपी की भाषा, बोली, संस्कृति व इतिहास पर गर्व है। #यूपी_मेरा_अभिमान
    — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) February 1, 2022
    Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the finance minister of insulting the people of Uttar Pradesh with her “UP-type” remark that made light of them.

    “Nirmala Sitharaman has insulted the 25 crore people of Uttar Pradesh and made fun of them with her ‘typical UP-type’ comment. This is a big insult to the 25 crore people of Uttar Pradesh. Modi ji and Nirmala Sitharaman should immediately apologise to the people of Uttar Pradesh,” Surjewala told reporters.

  • Will write to FM to reconsider relief for traders, middle-class: CAIT NCR

    By PTI

    NOIDA: Lamenting no sops for middle class and traders in the Budget 2022-23, the NCR chapter of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said it will be writing to the Union Finance Ministry to reconsider extending relief in these categories.

    CAIT’s NCR unit convenor Sushil Kumar Jain said in the budget, the government has given relief by reducing the tax rate on some items like textiles, electronics, and jewellery and it would definitely increase their sales.

    “The proposals on MSME are also a matter of joy but overall it looked like the government has hardly changed the budget from the last year and wants to move further for development like the previous years. There was no relief for the traders and middle class and they are disappointed with this budget,” Jain said in a statement.

    “We will again write a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for reconsidering the budget and if still possible, some relief can be given to traders and the middle class,” said Jain, also the president of Noida’s Sector 18 market association.

    He said the CAIT had been repeatedly urging the Centre for reconsidering aspects of the GST and Income Tax but there has been no hearing on that too.

  • 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.”

  • 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.