The Viyug

By Arpita Sharma

As 2024 has already entered in February, it’s the time for world biggest democracy to enter a big game of upcoming election season but before that the finance minister has already announced the ministry’s interim budget for rest of the year. India’s first budget was announced in 26th November 1947, by the then finance minister R. K. Shanmukham Chetty. At that time, it was really crucial for our country to pave its way and prove its existence as a global partner. But after so many years when India has proved to be the emerging global leader, the challenges are no less now and this all has inculcated in the interim budget.

For the current government it’s not an ordinary budget but it’s a report card or a moment to show its credibility for the next season. This budget is said to be the sixth in a row for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Lots of prediction has been made and the most promised one is to see and visualise India as a five trillion-dollar economy by 2026-2027. The main focus of current government is divided into four pillars namely poor, youth, women and farmers.

At this time, it is evident to take structural reform with main focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and development with main focus on inclusive progress. Only by following these steps our country can perfectly enter into the realm of a developed nation within 2047.

A new acronym of GDP came in budget session this time which is governance, development and performance. Current government is trying to reflect all those areas in which work has been done in the past years, in these areas governance not only include good and well structured but also easily accessible governance is what the nation demands now. As far as talking about GDP, it is said to maintain a clear and stable position at 7 percent. In this, rural income is said to be increased by a whooping margin of 50 percent.

Next, considering the agriculture department, lack of innovation and digital infrastructure can be easily witnessed. So, in order to increase innovation not only in agricultural sector but also for the nation’s defence sector by stating up to Rs. 1 lakh crore long term interest free loans. This will undoubtedly encourage young startups to do researching in this much awaited stream.

In the 2023 budget, two significant health issues were addressed: Tuberculosis and sickle cell Anemia. In the 2024 budget, another critical problem, cervical cancer, was highlighted, and it is now mandatory to create awareness about this disease among young girls aged 9 to 14. Their vaccination has become a top priority, and a major platform called “U Win” has been launched to ensure inclusive coverage of immunisation for young adults under Mission Indra Dhanush.

Transportation and Environment