Nothing in budget for any sector

Pradeep Kumar Panda
Darshan Samikhya, Bhubaneswar

There is nothing spectactular in Interim Budget 2024 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama. Budget is heavy on fiction and ornamental language with new definition of terms like GDP (Governance Development Performance), FDI (Fast Developed India), 1 Crore Lakhpati Didi etc. There is no change in Direct Tax and Indirect Tax including Import Duties. It seems there is no increase in Health and Education Budget. There is nothing to address Cost of Living Crisis. Converting 40,000 general coaches of Railway to Bande Bharat Coach will negatively affect poor and middle class passengers. There is no measure to address inflation issues and unemployment issues including MSME sector. Youth is grossly neglected in the budget. Fiscal Deficit is 5.8% in FY23 and target is 5.2% for FY24 which is very doubtful as India has highest level of Debt since Independence. Fiscal Consolidation and Fiscal deficit are serious issues.