Expectation Of Common Man From Budget
The union budget of India, also referred to as the annual financial statement[1] is to be presented on first working day of February. It will be the second union budget of the Modi- 2.0 government and will be presented by Nirmala Sitharaman, an economist by profession.
There are quite a number of demands of the common man from the budget. Trade unions have urged the government to provide minimum wage of Rs 21,000, minimum pension of Rs 6,000 under Employees’ Pension Scheme and tax exemption on annual income of up to Rs 10 Lakh in a pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 2nd January 2020. The unions have also raised concerns over rising unemployment in the country, saying “employment generation has nose-dived in recent period”. During the meeting, they suggested that massive public investment in infrastructure, social sectors and agriculture would generate employment and the Union Budget should give it a priority and allocate necessary funds for this. They demanded that all vacant sanctioned posts in various government departments, including railways, PSUs and autonomous institutions, should be filled through fresh recruitment. They also suggested the finance minister that ban on creation of new positions and mandatory reduction of government posts should be lifted. They noted that denial of the level playing field to many PSUs (BSNL, MTNL, ITI etc) had put thousands of jobs in jeopardy. The unions also pointed out that the merger of BSNL-MTNL and voluntary retirement (which is actually forced retirement) of almost 79,000 workers is just opposed to the idea of job creation. Lodging their protest against fixed-term employment (FTE), the unions said the provision of FTE should be done away with, and concerned notification should be rescinded forthwith. They also raised the issue of price rise saying that the government should ban speculative forward trading in essential commodities and take steps to curtail hoardings along with strengthening public distribution system. On disinvestments and strategic sale of public sector units, they said that budgetary support should be provided for the revival of potentially viable sick PSUs. It also suggested that the finance minister to refrain from strategic sale of viable PSUs in core sectors like steel, coal, mining, heavy engineering, pharmaceuticals, dredging, civil aviation, financial institution, among others. The unions have asked to extend the rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA to urban areas also and enhance minimum employment guarantee to 200 days in a year. They also lodged a protest against foreign direct investment in crucial sectors, saying FDI should not be allowed in railways, defense production, financial sector, retail trade etc. Trade unions also suggested to stop the labor law amendments that curtail the basic and trade union rights of workers and provide unhindered ‘hire & fire’ facilities to employers. They also demanded that the threshold limit for coverage of establishments under the retirement fund body EPFO should be reduced to 10 workers from 20 at present. Gratuity should be calculated on 30 days wages instead of 15 days of wages per completed year of service without any ceiling, they said. The government should not make Aadhaar linking mandatory, the unions added. On the income tax exemption, they urged that the ceiling for income tax for salaried persons and pensioners should be raised to Rs 10 Lakh per year. Besides, they also demanded that the income tax ceiling for senior citizens should be raised to Rs 8 Lakh. All perks and fringe benefits like housing, medical and education facilities and running allowances in railways should be exempted from income tax net totally, they said. It also stated that during the meeting, representatives of trade unions and labor organizations shared their views and suggestions regarding job creation, labor concerns and quality of employment issues.[2]
Experts from health, education and rural development sectors in meeting held on 30th December 2020 suggested a dedicated fund for the protection of children, a policy to encourage healthy food habits, and more financial allocations for secondary-level schools. The main areas of discussion were related to improving efficiency in the delivery of health services; devising innovative ways to reach primary healthcare facilities for marginalized sections; and improving learning outcomes at primary level while also making secondary and higher-level education accessible and affordable; among others, said an official release. The 10th and final Pre-Budget Consultation meetings were chaired by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur attended by senior government officials. The experts discussed benefits of child budgeting; collecting gender-disaggregated data by a national mission; broadening, expanding and strengthening PDS; land titles to women; changes in general procurement guidelines to include disabled-friendly technology; and waiver of tax on assisted technology for disabled persons. As per the release, they also suggested setting up of a dedicated national fund for the protection of children; eradication of child labour; policy to encourage healthy food habits via measures like higher taxes on sin products; better compliance of Right to Education and employment generation with skill matching for youth in urban areas. Representatives from Rashtriya Sewa Bharati, Right to Education Forum, SEWA Bharat, Save the Children, Right to Food Campaign, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO India, Help Age India, CRY-Child Rights and You, UNICEF, The Hans Foundation, and Action Aid Association among others, participated in the meeting.[3]
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MANISH GOYAL
INTERN
[1] Article 112, Constitution of India, 1950
[2] https://www.firstpost.com/business/union-budget-2020-21-trade-unions-urge-nirmala-sitharaman-to-hike-income-tax-ceiling-minimum-wages-pension-7804241.html
[3] https://www.firstpost.com/business/union-budget-2020-21-pension-fund-regulator-wants-govt-to-double-tax-benefit-under-nps-to-rs-1-lakh-7818061.html