These four will be in the focus of Sitharaman in Budget 2024, know what will be special…

New Delhi:- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget for the 7th consecutive time later this month. This will be the first budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term. Just before the Lok Sabha elections, she presented the interim budget or vote-on-account. In which the government seeks Parliament's approval to bear government expenditure for the next two-three months so that a regular budget can be presented after the formation of the new Lok Sabha.
However, since this is a continuing regime, no major change is expected in the government's policy. Its focus is expected to remain on the four pillars – poor people, farmers, women and youth, as was the case with the interim budget.
In his budget speech, the finance minister had said that the needs and welfare of these four groups are of top priority for the government. He had said that when they move forward, the country moves forward. These four need and get the support of the government in their efforts to improve their lives. Their empowerment and welfare will take the country forward.
Reaching out to the poor
In the wake of the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 5.33 lakh lives in India, the government launched the world’s largest free food distribution programme for over 55 per cent of the country’s population. The PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, launched in March 2020, has been extended till the end of 2028. This has led to a huge expenditure for the central government as the allocation for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the nodal ministry for the scheme, has increased significantly since the launch of the scheme.For example, the food subsidy bill for FY 2019-20 before the Covid-19 outbreak was just Rs 1.09 lakh crore. However, the next year in FY 2020-21, the food subsidy bill rose to Rs 5.41 lakh crore as against the budget estimate of Rs 1.16 lakh crore. This increase was attributed to, among other things, inclusion of off-budget food subsidy of previous years in the Union Budget. But after the first post-Covid year, the food subsidy bill remained high and for FY 2021-22 it was Rs 2.89 lakh crore, for FY 2022-23 it was Rs 2.73 lakh crore and the Revised Estimate for FY 2023-24 is Rs 2.12 lakh crore, but the actual numbers could be higher when the latest data is presented on July 23.
Farmer
Although the government withdrew the three controversial farm laws in November 2021, for several reasons, it is facing the wrath of the farming community, which led to the ruling party's electoral defeat in the agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana and Hindi belt Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. To win back the support of the farming community, Prime Minister Modi started the third term by announcing a major expansion of the PM Awas Yojana in rural areas this term and also released the installment of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi from his constituency Varanasi soon after taking charge for the third time. In this budget, the Finance Minister may further expand welfare and irrigation schemes targeted at the farming community.
Women
Women are among the four focus areas of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. The allocation for the Ministry of Women and Child Development has steadily increased in recent years. In this budget, Lakhpati Didi will get a special focus as Finance Minister Sitharaman may announce ways to strengthen the Lakhpati Didi Yojana announced in the last budget. The scheme aims to cover about 10 crore women associated with more than 90 lakh self-help groups (SHGs).
youth
The Finance Minister announced the creation of a fund of Rs 1 lakh crore in the interim budget. He said that this fund will be set up with a fifty-year interest-free loan. It will provide long-term financing or refinancing with low or zero interest rate.
According to the government, this will encourage the private sector to promote research and innovation in emerging sectors of the economy. Sitharaman said that we need to create programs that combine the powers of our youth and technology.
The Finance Minister said that this will be a golden era for our tech-savvy youth. The government is expected to announce additional measures in the upcoming budget to further strengthen the startup and entrepreneurship culture in the country.
Apart from this, the government has announced an increase in the budget for school education and higher education.
The budget allocation for school education has been increased from around Rs 97,000 crore for the financial year 2022-23 to around Rs 1.28 lakh crore for the current financial year, while the budget for higher education has been increased from Rs 53,000 crore for the financial year 2022-23 to more than Rs 63,000 crore for the current financial year. It is expected that Finance Minister Sitharaman may announce new measures to further strengthen higher education and research in the country in the upcoming budget.

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