This is not just a budget but the foundation stone of a prosperous and strong India.

India’s Amrit Kaal has started and in the year 2047, India would be completing 100 years of its independence. Till that time, the Prime Minister of the country Narendra Modi has given inspiration to the Indian citizens to establish India as a developed nation on the world map. Therefore, the country now has only about 24 years left, in such a situation, the budget presented by Union Finance Minister Honorable Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament for the financial year 2023-24 is showing the way to make India a developed nation. . Because this budget is actually the first budget of Amrit Kaal, it can also be called the budget which laid the strong foundation stone of Amrit Kaal in India.

In India, many examples of achieving success by following the path shown by sages, sages and gurus have been heard from the spiritual point of view. Similarly, while presenting the Union Budget for the financial year 2023-24, the Honorable Finance Minister told that she too, in the form of Saptarishis, has set 7 priorities for the purpose of providing guidance to them. Nature has always been worshiped in the form of a deity in India, from this point of view the first priority has been fixed that the economic development of the country should be done by causing minimum harm to the nature. Therefore, the priority of “Green Growth” has been fixed. The second priority in the form of “Youth Power” with the aim of involving the youth of the country in the economic progress of the country, the third priority with the objective of achieving the economic progress of the country in the form of “Inclusive Development”, on the last rung in the society Fourth priority in the form of “Reaching the Last Mile” with the objective of extending the benefits of economic progress to the standing person, fifth priority in the form of “Infrastructure and Investment” with the objective of creating more and more new employment opportunities. Sixth priority in the form of “Unleashing the Potential” with the aim of using the present inherent strengths (which we have forgotten) in the interest of the country, and “Launch of Digital Platform” with the aim of taking the citizens of India to the digital platform. The seventh priority has been set as With the beginning of Amrit Kaal, on the basis of the above priorities, work has started in India at a very fast pace.

The Central Government has taken a revolutionary step with the aim of taking India’s infrastructure to a developed stage. Increasing the amount of capital investment of the Central Government by 33 percent, it is being increased from Rs 7.50 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23 to Rs 10 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24, which is equal to the country’s gross domestic product. Will be 3.3 percent. If such a huge amount is being spent by the Central Government for the development of capital infrastructure, then it will create crores of new employment opportunities in the country and there will be a huge increase in the demand for the products in the country and eventually private sector companies will also be able to start their own business. Capital investment will have to be forced to speed up. This can be called a revolutionary measure to give impetus to the economic progress of the country.

Similarly, an amount of Rs 2.40 crore has been earmarked for the railway budget in the financial year 2023-24, while an amount of Rs 1.40 crore has been earmarked in the financial year 2022-23 for the purpose of taking the infrastructure to a developed level in India. Went. Thus, almost double the amount will now be spent on this item during the new financial year. Many new schemes worth Rs 75,000 crore will also be started to bring the railways into a developed state. Also, 50 additional new airports, helipads, water aerodromes, etc. will be built with the aim of making air traffic more convenient in the country. Also, efforts will be made to further strengthen regional air connectivity.

The budget for the financial year 2023-24 has also brought a big gift for the defense sector. In the Union Budget, a total amount of Rs 5.94 lakh crore has been allocated to the defense sector for the year 2023-24, which is 8 percent of the total budget amount. Today, India is moving fast with the aim of achieving self-reliance in the defense sector. This amount allocated in the budget will be used for the self-sufficient technology of weapons and the work of manufacturing these products in India itself. With this, lakhs of new employment opportunities will be created in the country itself. By the way, now India has also started exporting equipment and weapons etc. produced in the defense sector. With the further strengthening of the defense sector, the export of these products from the country will also gain momentum.

Crores of employment opportunities are being created by entrepreneurs in the micro, small and medium sector in India, therefore, with the aim of promoting this sector, a credit guarantee scheme of Rs 2 lakh crore is being brought for micro, small and medium sector entrepreneurs. Is. Also, tax exemption is being given to micro industries up to a turnover of three crore rupees. In a further thrust to Ease of Doing Business, it has been decided to decriminalize 3,400 government legal provisions. With this, it will be easier to establish new industries in the country.

The field of agriculture has been a priority area for the Central Government from the very beginning and continuous efforts are being made to double the income of the farmers. Even today, more than 60 percent of the country’s population lives in villages and is mainly dependent on the agriculture sector for their livelihood. Therefore, special attention has been paid to the agriculture sector in the budget for the financial year 2023-24. Digitization of agriculture sector is being done. In order to promote animal husbandry, dairy farming and fisheries in the agriculture sector, there is a plan to disburse loans worth Rs 20 lakh crore for other agricultural works. Rs 6,000 thousand crore will be invested in the fisheries sub-plan. Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be created to encourage agri-startups. Under the Gobardhan Yojana, 500 new plants will be established and 10,000 bio input resources will be established for natural farming. There are also plans to create a special fund to help young farmers.

Constant efforts are being made in India to fulfill the basic needs of every citizen in the form of food, clothing, housing, education and health facilities. With this in view, the amount allocated for the financial year 2023-24 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is being increased by 66 percent to Rs 79,000 crore. This will speed up the important work of providing housing facilities to Indian citizens. The amount being spent under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana should also be termed as capital investment of the Central Government because with this type of expenditure not only assets are being created in the country but lakhs of new employment opportunities are also being created.

An attempt has been made in this budget to give additional importance to the field of education. Along with the establishment of the National Digital Library in India, the provision of course material for “multi-disciplinary study” in the field of medical education will also be made by the Central Government. 38,000 new teachers and support staff will be recruited during the next three years for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools. In this budget, a provision of Rs 15,000 crore has been made by the central government for special schools for the tribals. Online training scheme will also be started with the aim of promoting skill development among civil servants and government employees.

In the end, it can be said that along with adopting new technology in India, full attention is also being given to our cultural tradition so that India can be re-established as a world guru. By adopting new technology, efforts are being made to provide benefits of various schemes to even the poorest citizens. 11.7 crore toilets have been constructed in the country under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, 9.6 crore gas connections have been provided under Ujjwala Yojana, 47.8 crore bank accounts have been opened under Jan Dhan Yojana, 50 crore citizens under Ayushman Bharat Yojana 11 crore families have been provided with tap water under the Jal Jeevan Mission, an amount of Rs 3.5 lakh crore has been spent by the Central Government under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the Prime Minister’s Swanidhi Loans have been provided to 40 lakh street vendors under the scheme, 70 percent loans have been provided to women entrepreneurs under the Mudra scheme and crores of citizens living below the poverty line have been brought above the poverty line. The provision of expenditure has been continued in the budget of the financial year 2023-24 on the said schemes also.

– Prahlad Sabnani

retired deputy general manager

state Bank of India