Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set a new record by presenting the country’s budget for the seventh consecutive time on Tuesday. This was also Modi’s first budget 3.0. This budget will be considered historic in many ways because in it the government has emphasised on skill development for employment generation. At the same time, it has also shown statesmanship in wooing the NDA alliance partners. The government has set nine priorities for the budget. Apart from keeping the fiscal position strong, it has also showered a lot of love on the public by providing something or the other to the middle class, youth, farmers, small industries, workers and women.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is often addressed as “Nirmala Tai” by those close to her. Like ‘Tai’ i.e. ‘elder sister’, the Finance Minister has taken care of everyone in the budget this time and has also shown rigour on target from short-term capital gains tax to fiscal deficit. Let us understand at a glance what is in this budget…
First of all, let’s talk about the middle class.
The middle class is the most affected section by income tax in the country. Taking special care of this section, Nirmala Sitharaman has increased the standard deduction limit in the new tax regime from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. In this tax regime, tax rebate was already available for income up to Rs 7 lakh and with the standard deduction of Rs 50,000, the effective tax-free income has been increased to Rs 7.5 lakh which will now be Rs 7.75 lakh.
Not only this, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also simplified the tax slabs of the new tax regime. The table of changes in their slabs is given below. However, the government has not even touched the tax of the old regime, which is an indication that the government also wants to shift the remaining 30 per cent of taxpayers to the new regime.
Changes in the new tax regime
Not only this, the government has increased the tax on short-term capital gains, while it simplified the long-term capital gains system, the tax rate was kept at a flat rate of 12.5 per cent. With this, the government has directed that people should focus on equity-linked schemes, such as mutual funds, for long-term savings.
This gift came to women.
The budget also highlights women-oriented society and growth. Therefore, some special announcements have been made for women in the budget. To increase the number of women in the workforce, the government will establish women’s hostels and nurseries with industrial cooperation. Vocational training programmes will be organised for women. The government will increase market access for products manufactured by women’s self-help groups.
This time the government has set 9 priorities in the budget.
youth care and employment
The Modi government has been struggling with the problem of unemployment for a long time. Its pressure was also felt in the results of the Lok Sabha elections. That is why this time Nirmala Sitharaman has given special attention to both youth and employment in the budget. For this purpose, the government has launched 3 new schemes. At the same time, attention has also been focused on skill development.
According to the budget proposals, the government will provide one month’s salary in three instalments to youths who are taking up their first employment. Its ceiling is Rs 15,000, i.e. youths who are registering with EPFO for the first time will receive financial assistance from the government in 3 instalments of Rs 5,000 each.
Not only this, maximum employment is generated in the manufacturing sector. Therefore, the government will provide direct benefits to both the new employees who get employment in this sector and their employers. This benefit will be given to them for the first 4 years as per their contribution to EPFO.
To increase employment across the country, the government will provide a monthly assistance of Rs 3,000 to employers for 2 years. This assistance will be in the form of contribution made by employers to the EPFO of the new employee.
Nirmala took care of the entire budget.
The government has gone even further and has focused on capacity building. For this, the government will upgrade 1,000 ITIs. Based on the needs of the industries, new courses will be developed with the help of the state government.
With this, a 12-month internship programme for the Prime Minister will be initiated. For this, the government will provide an amount of Rs 5,000 as a stipend. While the companies will pay the remaining stipend from their CSR funds. This internship scheme will be carried out with the help of the top 500 companies in the country.
‘This news is being updated’
