In a clear indication of his government’s policies and priorities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday invoked Goddess Lakshmi (Indian goddess of prosperity and beauty) to bless India’s poor and middle-class people.
In his customary address to the reporters, delivered at the start of the budget session, Prime Minister Modi remarked that on the occasion of the start of the Budget Session, it is customary to remember Goddess Lakshmi, who bestows wisdom, prosperity, and welfare.
Reciting a Shlok (couplet) in ancient Indian language Sanskrit, the Prime Minister said Maa Lakshmi gives us success and wisdom, prosperity and well-being.
“I pray to Maa Lakshmi that every poor and middle-class community of the country should be blessed with the special blessings of Maa Lakshmi,” he told the reporters.
The Prime Minister said that the people of the country have given him this responsibility for the third time, and this is the first full budget of this third term.
Talking about the Union Budget to be presented on Saturday, the Prime Minister said this budget will create a new confidence, will give a new energy so that when the country celebrates 100 years of independence in 2047, it will be a developed country.
“140 crore countrymen will fulfill this resolution with their collective efforts,” said the Prime Minister, adding that the government was moving rapidly for the development of the country be it geographically, socially or in the context of different economic levels.
“Innovation, inclusion and investment have constantly been the basis of the roadmap of our economic activity,” he told reporters.
Alluding to his government’s legislative agenda, Prime Minister Modi said this session, as always, will have many historic days.
“Tomorrow there will be discussions in the House and after a lot of deliberation, laws will be made that will increase the strength of the nation,” noted the Prime Minister.
In a clear indication of things to come in the Union Budget and the Budget Session, Prime Minister Modi said: “Especially, to re-establish the pride of Nari Shakti (women power), to ensure that every woman gets a respectable life without any discrimination of caste and creed and gets equal rights, many important decisions will be taken in this session in that direction.”
The Prime Minister's statement about the direction of the budget session and legislative agenda for the Parliament session comes at a time when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to create history on Friday by presenting a female Finance Minister to present 8 consecutive union budgets.
Reference to India’s poor, middle class and Nari Shakti gives a clear indication of the government’s priority areas in the budget allocation.
While presenting the last budget in July 2024, FM Sitharaman had clearly identified the four priority groups for the government.
“As mentioned in the interim budget, we need to focus on 4 major castes, namely ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and ‘Annadata’ (Farmer),” Sitharaman had said then.
However, if one looks at the budget data, then the allocation for the Ministry of Women and Child Development has been range-bound in the last three years.
For example, the actual expenditure for the ministry was to the tune of Rs 24,000 crores in FY 2022-23, which was marginally hiked to over Rs 25,400 crores in FY 2023-24 and was further increased to Rs 26,000 crores for the current financial year. A marginal increase of Rs 2,000 crores in three years.
Similarly, there was a marginal increase in the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports during this period, from actual expenditure of Rs 2,543 crores to Rs 3,442 crores.
As far as any direct relief to the middle class is concerned in the form of concessions in payment of income tax, the finance minister last year had announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act of 1961. Sitharaman had also increased standard deduction from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 in a year and deduction on family pension from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. The FM had also revised the tax slabs for taxpayers opting for the new income tax regime which was made default for all income taxpayers. She had said these measures will result in saving of Rs 17,500 for income taxpayers while entailing a loss of revenue of Rs 7,000 crore for the government.
This year there are indications that the government may announce some more concessions to the middle class to shore up the sagging economic growth which is expected to hit a four-year low in the ongoing financial year ending in the month of March.
However, it is not yet clear whether tax rates and slabs will be changed or the relief will be given to the middle class in some other form such as increasing the rebate limit under Section 87 of the Income Tax Act or in the form of an increase in the standard deduction.
Though the Prime Minister did not directly name another focus group – the farmers - in his customary media address Friday but last year the finance minister had announced a comprehensive review of the agriculture research setup in the country to develop climate-resilient crops.
It is expected that the government may announce some major schemes for farmers in addition to the poor, middle class and women in this budget.
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