Sir,
The recent Budget placed in Parliament by the Finance Minister in her long speech could not produce any vibrant impact among the common masses of the country. The tax slab remained the same for the lower middle class of Rs 5 lakhs and rich sections of the tax payers have been spared this time. Senior citizens and pensioners who expected some relief in the budget stood disappointed. There is no increase in the interest rates where the senior citizens pensioners could benefit on their small saving deposits. Withdrawal of subsidies and low return on savings, unemployment, and such other inflatory exercises are hardly pleasing measures in the current budget. The budget proposed for defence amounting to Rs 3.37 lakh crore seems not substantial in the present scenario when we are fighting terrorism on the borders. Allocation of Rs 30,757 crore for Jammu and Kashmir in 2020-21 is a welcome step in the development and measures have to be taken to build the shattered economy of the UT because of the terrorism.
The said budget has completely failed to address the current economic slowdown and steps to curb the inflation of essential items of consumption. Some luxuary items have gone cheaper while daily consumable products have gone costlier. The focus on agriclture in the budget of Rs 17.83 crore has been with an assumption to address farmer’s aspirations. The notable step taken by the Finance Minister in the budget is allocation of Rs 2192 crore for Industrial Units in the country.
S N Raina
Jammu
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