Bold, historic and reforming. These are some of the keywords that dominated the news coverage of India’s first pandemic budget. While The ...
Bold, historic and reforming.
These are some of the keywords that dominated the news coverage of India’s first pandemic budget. While The Print editor Shekhar Gupta said that the Budget marked a shift in the “Right” direction, India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai said that informed opinion believed that it was the “best Budget” . Calling the budget a “bold leap”, the editorial board of the Indian Express concluded that the “government means business”.
The narrative around the Union Budget showed a complete disconnect from what ordinary people expect not just from the government but also the media.
The government indeed meant business when it offered several incentives to start-ups and businesses like Rs. 1.97 lakh crore in next five years for production-linked incentive schemes for 13 sectors and extending tax holidays. The Budget’s policy thrusts on infrastructure, privatisation, and fiscal transparency set the Sensex soaring.
However, it also failed to bring adequate relief to the poor or ensure redistributive justice. The education sector saw a staggering Rs 6,000 crore cut at a time when India facing one of the highest school dropout rates on the back of the pandemic. At a time when, as a report by Oxfam India highlighted, India’s 100 top billionaires saw their fortunes increase during this time of unprecedented economic crisis, no commitments were made to bring in a...
