Budget to mirror UPA priorities set out in Prez address: PM

The Union Budget for 2009-10 will reflect UPA government's ambitious agenda like Rs three kg rice or wheat for BPL families, enlarging NREGA coverage and more focus on infrastructure to bring the economy on high growth.
    
This became clear with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday asking the Finance Ministry to ensure that the Budget "adequately and appropriately" reflects the priorities and programmes outlined in the President's address to the joint sitting of Parliament.
    
PMO sources said the Prime Minister is keen that adequate allocations are provided for these flagship programmes and other measures are provided to key sectors hit hard by the global downturn.
   
President Pratibha Patil in her address highlighted the proposed National Food Security Act under which the families below the poverty line would get 25 kg of rice or wheat a
month at Rs three a kg. This, according to estimate, may put an annual burden of about Rs 26,000 crore on the exchequer.

The job guarantee scheme, NREGA, may get more allocation as its coverage would be extended to new areas other than the traditional works like digging land and building roads. The budget would also address, as indicated in the President's address, the issues of economic slowdown resulting from the global recession.
    
The Indian economy, after having grown by an annual average of nine per cent in the first four years of the UPA government's previous tenure, slowed to 6.7 per cent in
2008-09. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is also likely to give sops to sectors like textiles, leather, handicrafts and other exports-oriented industries.