Budget 2019 Highlights: FM Piyush Goyal's 'Budget For New India' to Opposition's 'Jumla' Charge, Who Said What on Interim Budget

New Delhi, February 2: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the Interim Budget 2019 which is being proclaimed as "budget for new India" by the government and its ministers but the Opposition called it an "election-budget" considering that the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections are just two months away and termed the budget as Modi sarkar's "aakhri jumla" (last attractive false promise).  Budget 2019: Sops For Farmers + Tax Relief to Middle Class = Another Term For Narendra Modi?

"Individual taxpayers having annual income upto Rs 5 lakhs will get full tax rebate. Individuals with gross income up to 6.5 lakh rupees will not need to pay any tax if they make investments in provident funds and prescribed equities," said FM Piyush Goyal and the Parliament (Lok Sabha- lower house) erupted with BJP and NDA ministers thumping the desk in approval.  Budget 2019 Highlights: Interim Budget Brings Cheers For Middle Class, Farmers & Labourers.

However, tax payers and investors will do well to keep in mind that apart from the tax rebate provided to people earning less than Rs 5 lakh per year, the rate of taxes to be paid by other income groups remains exactly the same as previous years.

Apart from the Income Tax exemption to those with income below Rs 5 lakh per annum, the other important schemes that the government is banking on is the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, under which, farmers will be provided Rs 6,000 a year, in three installments. The government announced it as "a historic income support scheme for small and marginal farmers - to benefit 12 crore marginal farmers." However, the Opposition ridiculed the government saying that the income support scheme announced is too little and too late. The government called it a "revolutionary" step and Prime Minister Narendra Modi cited it as an example of government's concern for the farmers.

The Prime Minister also highlighted the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan of the Interim Budget 2019, and said that it will benefit 10 crore workers of the unorganized sector, which assures monthly pension of Rs 3000 per month for workers joining at the age of 29. Budget 2019: PM Narendra Modi Congratulates Piyush Goyal, Says 'Everyone Taken Care of in Interim Budget'.

Standard tax deduction from salaried persons have been raised from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. Gratuity limit has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

TDS threshold on interest earned on bank/post office deposits is being raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000. TDS threshold for deduction of tax on rent is proposed to be increased from Rs. 1,80,000 to Rs.2,40,000 for providing relief to small taxpayers.

Inflation

The Finance Minister said that the Government has been successful in bringing down average inflation to 4.6% over last five years, which is lower than the inflation during the tenure of any other Government.

However, there were reactions galore on the Interim Budget 2019 from political circles. Below are a few reactions from leaders and ministers in the government and across political parties:

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that, "This budget is for everyone and is a good one. Work will go on like this."

Former Finance Minister in the UPA regime, P Chidambaram, was not impressed with the budget speech and said that, "The Interim Finance Minister tested our patience by the longest interim budget speech in the recent memory. It was not an interim budget, it was a full fledged budget accompanied by an election campaign speech." Chidambaram added that, "My one line comment on the budget is that it is not a vote on account but an account for votes."

BJP President Amit Shah said about the Budget that, "The budget has met the expectations of farmers, labourers & middle class. By bearing a cost of Rs 75,000 crore,the govt will implement Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. This scheme will also benefit those farmers who do not take loans."

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that the "whole exercise (interim-budget) has turned out to be a damp squib. We've seen one good thing that is tax exemption for the middle class. Rs 6000 in income support for farmers boils down to Rs 500 per month. Is that supposed to enable them to live with the honour and dignity?"

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking on the Union Budget 2019 said that. "It’s a historic budget, and all the sections of the society will benefit from it."

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, speaking on the Interim Budget, 2019 said that, "All sections of the society including farmers, middle class, poor and women have been mentioned in this budget. This budget will help achieve the dream of a 'New India'."

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that, "This govt has no moral authority or responsibility to place the budget for 5 years when they'll not be in power; the govt will go for expiry. After expiry, if you give medicine, is there any value? What will be the value? This is absolutely valueless."

Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy criticised the budget and said that, "I want to ask if this budget was prepared by officials of Finance dept or RSS? In this budget, Narendra Modi has given cotton candy for farmers. When I announced loan waiver scheme, PM mocked it as lollipop. Friends of BJP have prepared this budget."

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that, "I welcome the decision to transfer Rs 6,000 directly to farmers' accounts every yr. It will strengthen economic conditions of rural areas. Also, I welcome decision of tax rebate for taxpayers with annual income up to Rs 5 lakh. It'll give relief to middle-class."

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said that, "I welcome tax benefits for middle and lower income groups. I welcome direct benefit transfer to both small and marginal farmers on lines of our KALIA Scheme. However, it would've benefited farmers more if quantum of assistance is equal or more than KALIA Scheme."

Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav said that "#Budget2019 actually rubs salt in the wounds of farmers. The 'historic' 6,000 rupees a year for a family of 5 translates to Rs. 3.3 a day. This is even lower than MNREGA or old-age pension!"

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that, "Final jumla of Modi govt : it's interim budget too completely disappoints Delhi. Our share in central taxes remains frozen at Rs 325 crore; nothing earmarked for local bodies. Delhi continues to be on its own financially."

Former PM and Narendra Modi's predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh said the fiscal policy will have an "obvious impact" on the elections. He further alleged that the government has not worked on expenditure in the interim Budget.

Apart from tax incentives for middle class, income schemes for farmers & unorganised sector labour, there were also important announcements and fund allocation for Defence, Railways and women empowerment.

Towards the end of his speech, the Finance Minister said that after completion of the fiscal deficit consolidation programme, the Government would now focus on Debt consolidation. He said “We have maintained the glide path towards our target of 3% of fiscal deficit to be achieved by 2020-21. India’s Debt to GDP ratio was 46.5% in year 2017-18. " The FRBM Act prescribes that the Debt to GDP ratio of the Government of India should be brought down to 40% by 2024-25. “Along with completion of the fiscal deficit consolidation programme, we will now focus on Debt consolidation”, he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2019 03:26 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).