Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled her first paperless union budget which targets to bolster an economy badly-hit by the global pandemic. Some prominent persons called the budget “self-reliant” while others called it “visionless”. As a result of this, there was a serious clash between the feedbacks of these persons.
PM Modi addressed the budget as self-reliant
Narendra Modi addressed the Union Budget for 2021by saying that it has the vision of self-reliance. The budget not only built the confidence of people in the pandemic-hit circumstances but also had “the farmer and India’s villages in its heart”. He even stated that “the budget focuses on increasing the farmer’s income” and so likely several measures have been taken for this. The farmers will also be able to get the loans without any difficulty. He praised Nirmala Sitharaman for the release of this budget and speaking via a public broadcast on television he said that “Our government’s response to the pandemic has never been reactive but proactive”.
Chidambaram termed the budget as a “brutal blow” to the autonomy-reasons behind so
After the budget was released, P. Chidambaram stated that the proposed tax reliefs completely bypass the taxpaying working-class and taxpaying middle class. He added that ” if the schemes are approved then only the actual expenditure will happen and people are not fools”. According to him, the Budget fails on most points. It barely passes on one point. The way Sitharaman had imposed cesses on petroleum and diesel is a deceiving method for the common people and also for the MPs.
“Growth-oriented budget or Directionless budget”- the major clash
One group called the budget “growth-oriented” and another group called it “directionless”. The TMC said that the budget is “visionless” and its theme was “sell India”. The Congress termed the budget as “directionless” and said that it was a case of “wrong diagnosis and prescription”. The Finance Minister could have been “brave” by extending some help to the poor, but she chose to be “timid”. The Deputy Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the rest of India which is struggling with rising unemployment has to reconcile with a meaningless “Atmanirbhar” slogan. While C.K. Ranganathan termed the budget as “growth-oriented” and also welcomed the thrust given on the rationalization of custom duties.
The PolicyTimes Suggestions
- The budget is not made in a way that would benefit the common people too much. The rise in prices of petrol, clothes, mobile phones, air conditioners, etc. are all needed by the common people regularly whereas the decrease in price in stuff like metal scrap, platinum, naphtha, etc. is not too beneficial for the common people.
- The govt could have also implemented a cess tax on the wealth of the billionaires that rose by 35% during the pandemic. A 5% cess on their net worth would still be enough to control the economic condition of the country and help the poor grow more.
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