Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, July 5, presented her first Union Budget in the parliament. This is the first budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second tenure. Sitharaman, who is the second finance minister of the country after Indira Gandhi, noted the role of the private sector in the growth story of India and termed them as job creators as well as wealth creators. Union Budget 2019 Presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman: Pension For Retailers, Cess on Petrol & Diesel, TV Channel For Startups & More.
While presenting the budget, the finance minister announced the allocation of funds for revival om sectors like defence, healthcare, agriculture, railways, small scale industries among others. Sitharaman said that India will become a $3 trillion economy by the end of this fiscal year and within next five years the country will achieve the target of $5 trillion economies. Union Budget 2019 Key Highlights: Nirmala Sitharaman's Pandora Box Benefits Agrarian Sector, Women Empowerment, Education and Housing For All; Here's Entire list.
Here are the political reactions to the Budget 2019:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the budget as "citizen-friendly, development-friendly Budget" asserting that the middle class will progress with it. "I congratulate the first woman Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a citizen friendly and a future friendly Budget. This is a Budget aimed at making the citizens of the country prosperous," the Prime Minister said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "It is a visionary budget, at the macroeconomic level, one can say that it is a manifestation of PM's dream to make India a $5 trillion economy. The budget aims at transforming gaon, gareeb and kisan." What is Zero Budget Farming? All About The Traditional Method Quoted by FM Nirmala Sitharaman In Budget 2019.
Senior Indian National Congress leader Kapil Sibal described the budget as “vision-less and provision-less”. According to him, the budget has nothing to offer for common public and leaves farmers with the recurring question of instability when it comes it agriculture.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, termed the budget as "old wine in a new bottle" asserting that there's nothing new, no plan for employment generation and no new initiatives. Budget 2019: 10 Good News From Nirmala Sitharaman's First Financial Blueprint.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, "Union Minister Piyush Goyal: It has given a huge thrust to startup, job creation, Make in India. It has given pension to the traders, large part of the community that was left out of the social security network. It's very reform-oriented. So it's a budget for 130 crore Indians."
Describing the budget 2019 as path-breaking, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, " It's a very comprehensive budget. We're particularly delighted as Finance Min has acknowledged role of Niti." "But more important is the road map that she has set for laying down a vision for $5 trillion economy," he added.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2019 04:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).