India wants Budget to focus on rural sector, says survey

While there are several expectations from the government’s last full Budget ahead of 2019 polls, an online survey conducted by a leading social media platform showed that a majority of individuals want the government to give greater focus on the agriculture sector followed by infrastructure, healthcare and education.

Considering the distress in the agrarian economy, which still remains a major source of employment in the country, about 38 per cent of the respondents felt that the sector needs more focus from the government that would help increase farmers income.

The survey, conducted by LocalCircles, also showed that women and child safety, disaster preparedness, skilling for employment and free medical assistance for accidents are some of the new areas where citizens want the government to allocate greater amount of funds.

Around 56 per cent of citizens want sizable funds to be allocated to skill development, which is crucial for employment generation.

When it comes to personal income tax, about 31 per cent felt the government should increase the exemption limit from ` 2.5 lakh to ` 3 lakh while 12 per cent of the respondents want the deduction allowed under section 80C to be increased to ` 2 lakh from ` 1.5 lakh.

Around 25 per cent of the respondents were in favour of reducing the peak income tax rate to 25 per cent from 30 per cent.

The survey also revealed that citizens want the government to widen the tax base and create better awareness about paying income tax. About 13 per cent argued for a higher penalty on individuals and entities trying to evade tax.

With regards to corporate tax, 36 per cent of those surveyed felt the need for a reduction in tax rate to 25 per cent, 23 per cent said the government could maintain the current rate till GST revenues pick up.

When asked about measures required to improve compliance by smaller businesses, 45 per cent suggested bringing down the tax rate to 18 per cent.