FM invites ideas, suggestions from public for Union budget
NEWDELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday invited ideas and suggestions for Union Budget 2020-21 from citizens through the website mygov.in so as to make the budgeting process “participative and inclusive”. “Those wishing to give inputs on #Budget2020 please do so using @mygovindia - Inviting Ideas and Suggestions for Union Budget 2020-2021,” she tweeted. The budget is expected be presented on February 1, a Saturday.
This year too, the ministry [of finance] looks forward to hearing from you on your suggestions for the Union Budget which will be presented in Parliament in the upcoming session, her message to citizens said. The last date for submissions of suggestions is January 20, 2020.
“We seek your valuable ideas to continue the tradition of the Union Budget incorporating citizens’ aspirations,” it added. Citizens can submit their suggestions either directly in the comments box or attach a PDF document by using specific hashtags—#incometax #Finance #Farmers #Agriculture #Health #Education #Environment #Waterconservation #GST #Employment #Entrepreneurship #Railways #Infrastructure and #Others.
The finance minister also started her pre-budget consultations. Her first meeting on Monday was with representatives of companies in the digital space and the second with stakeholders of the financial sector and capital markets. On Tuesday, she is scheduled to hold two separate meetings with stakeholders of trade and industry and the agriculture and agro-processing industry.
Bankers highlighted issues including taxation, credit growth, certification and steps for increasing financial market efficiency with Sitharaman during the pre-budget consultation.
The representatives of the digital industry discussed unleashing the power of Big Data for public governance, a finance ministry statement said.
Other issues that dominated the discussion included digital infrastructure, the role of the government, regulation of digital economy especially in terms of privacy, ease of doing business for start-ups , and taxation issues, it added.
The meetings were chaired by Sitharaman and attended by minister of state for finance and corporate affairs Anurag Thakur and senior finance ministry officials, including finance secretary Rajeev Kumar, economic affairs secretary Atanu Chakraborty, revenue secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, department of electronics and information technology secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney, department of telecommunications secretary Anshu Prakash, Central Board of Direct tax (CBDT) chairman Pramod Chandra Mody, Central Board of Indirect Tax and Cutstom (CBIC) chief PK Das and chief economic advisor KV Subramanian.