Budget to focus on job creation, health today

NEW DELHI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget on Monday is expected to revolve around the philosophy of “growth with a human touch” and focused on raising farmers’ incomes, generating jobs for the young, improving health care standards and ease of compliance for citizens and businesses,people aware of the development said.

Big infrastructure projects, continued support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMES) and making India selfreliant to become a key player in the global supply chain will be the other objectives of Sitharaman’s third budget, three people said on the condition of anonymity.

The Covid-19 pandemic, a 68-day hard lockdown imposed to slow its spread, the restrictions that continue on account of the infections, and the fact that people are still worried about venturing out or travelling are expected to cause the economy to contract by 7.7% in 2020-21, according to an estimate by the National Statistical Office.

Budget 2021-22 is being built on the ₹20 lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) stimulus packages that were announced between March 26 and May 17, the three people cited above said.

“The packages were designed in such a way that it not only gave instant relief to the poor in terms of free food and cooking gas during the nationwide lockdown, but also provided fiscal and monetary support to the industry to bounce back. The result is the V-shaped recovery. Hence, there is no point to reinvent the wheel. The budget will take it forward,” one of the people said.