Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman has hit many targets with one arrow. She not only promised to provide four crore jobs to the youth in five years but also tried to win the trust of middle class salaried employees by giving them relief in income tax. She kept youth, unemployed, women, farmers at the center of her plans. In a way, she has tried to draw a new blueprint for the development of the country by trying to give something to all sections. In this, the goal of development of cities and giving relief to entrepreneurs and reducing inflation has also been kept in mind. In a way, this is the budget of everyone’s expectations.
The Finance Minister has tried to shut the mouth of all his opponents through the budget. All the issues on which the opposition used to corner the government till now have been kept in mind. Therefore, the opposition has almost stopped speaking. Not only was the announcement of building five crore new Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana made, but the announcement of continuing the scheme of giving free ration for five more years was also made. Not only this, the states of its alliance partners have also been helped generously in the budget.
The government may not have agreed to give Bihar the status of a special state, but the way Bihar has been given attention in the budget and funds have been allocated for its development shows that the government is keeping Bihar’s needs in mind. Not only this, the government has also allocated funds to Andhra Pradesh to build a new capital and complete several projects. Both the states are overjoyed with this help.
To put Bihar on the tourism map more prominently, the budget has announced the construction of Vishnupad Corridor and Mahabodhi Corridor between Gaya and Bodh Gaya. Along with this, the construction of new airports, universities and roads has been announced and plans have also been made to save the state from the floods of Kosi. 26000 crore rupees have been allocated for roads alone. It has also been said that help will be provided in saving Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand from floods.
The salaried class waits the most for the budget. This time their attention was also given and the standard deduction has been increased from 50 thousand to 75 thousand and now those earning salary up to three lakh rupees have been exempted from income tax. The new tax slabs that have been created will help a salaried person save Rs 17500 in a year. This exemption has been given in the new tax regime. There is no exemption in the old regime. The government already wanted that people should gradually choose the new regime for income tax and that is why exemption has been given in the new regime itself. The salary for deduction of family pension has been increased from 15 thousand to 25 thousand. This will benefit four crore employees."text-align: justify;">The budget has announced many reliefs in TDS deduction. The process of TDS arrears has been asked to be simplified and delay in depositing it will not be considered a crime. It has also been asked to review the Income Tax Act 1961. E-commerce operators have also been told to get many reliefs in the budget."text-align: justify;">The biggest announcement is for those doing internship. Now one crore people will be given internship in 500 big companies of the country and they will be given honorarium of 5000 rupees per month i.e. 60 thousand in 12 months. This will provide great relief to those doing internship. Loan up to 10 lakhs can be availed for higher education. Not only this, a scheme has also been started for those doing new job to deposit one month’s salary in EPFO in three installments. Till now no government had announced such a scheme.
The reduction in customs duty has also made phones, chargers, electronic goods, slippers, shoes and leather purses cheaper and many other things including gold, silver and platinum have been welcomed by the common people. It was becoming difficult for people to buy gold and silver due to skyrocketing prices, now there will be some relief.
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