Finance Minister had presented the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament on February 1.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is replying to the discussion on the Union Budget in Lok Sabha today, February 13. Saturday also marks the end of the first part of the Budget session of the Parliament.
Key takeaways from FM Sitharaman's speech in Parliament:
1. FM Sitharaman said Budget 2021-22 draws from the experience of the prime minister when he was chief minister when he saw so many revivals happening at that time.
"This Budget draws from the experience of the PM when he was CM - on the ground in Gujarat, seen so many revivals happening at a time when the license quota raj was going away post-1991 & then based on that experience, commitment to reform was blended into this Budget," FM Sitharaman said.
2. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the ongoing COVID-19 situation did not deter the Central government from taking measures for reforms that are necessary for sustaining long term growth for this country.
"Stimulus plus reforms - an opportunity has been taken out of pandemic situation. A challenging situation like pandemic didn't deter govt from taking up reforms that are going to be necessary for sustaining long term growth for this country," she said.
3. She reiterated that India's approach to the COVID-19 resulted in a retraction in the pandemic. "Because we had an approach which was spearheaded from the front by the PM, we have had a retraction in the pandemic. Death rates are the lowest in the world and active cases have come down," she said.
4. On agricultural allocation in the budget, the FM said, "Data in the budget regarding agriculture allocation has been 'misread'. A total of Rs 1.15 lakh crore has been transferred to 10.75 crore farmers through the PMKSY."
5. In the Budget speech, I very clearly said, we're taking a holistic approach to health. It's addressing preventive health, it is addressing curative health, it is also addressing well-being. Otherwise, you are not going to get holistic health-related governance. I will firmly establish that in spite of bringing water and sanitation, the allocations to the core health has not come down. On the contrary, it has gone up: Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha
Sitaraman, while replying to the discussion on the Union Budget in Rajya Sabha on Friday, slammed the Opposition and accused them of constantly alleging a false narrative that the government only worked for cronies and said several of the Centre's schemes were for the poor.
She reminded members of the Upper House of several schemes that have been implemented for the poorer sections of the country, like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Saubhagya Yojana. She also said the Union Budget 2021-22 is the instrument through which Aatmanirbhar Bharat is to be attained and asserted that the government is also looking at "long-term sustainable growth".
Finance Minister had presented the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament on February 1.
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 "Nirmala Sitharaman")
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