One of the intended objectives of Union-Budget 2017-18 is to ‘transform, energize and clean India’. Analyze the measures proposed in the Budget 2017-18 to achieve the objective. (UPSC IAS Mains 2017 General Studies Paper – 3)
Budget in India is a socio-economic document that reflects the aims and aspirations of the government and people of India. The initiatives in the Budget 2017-18 can be discussed under following heads:-
1. Transforming India
- It concerns with those policies of the government that seek to transform the governance of the country and improve the quality of life of people.
- The budget has focused on upgrading the infrastructure of railways, roads, rivers, airports, telecommunications and energy sector. But railways in India need comprehensive reforms as it is evident from recurrent accidents in different parts of the country.
- Greater allocation for DeendayalAntyodaya Yojana is relevant in context of skilling India and reaping the benefits of demographic dividend in India.
- Rationalisation of tribunals is a positive step towards securing rule of law and effective delivery of justice.
- Tax administration is to be reformed through the strategy of RAPID (Revenue, Accountability, Probity, Information and Digitalisation). This strategy will help to plug tax avoidance at various levels and increase revenue of the government.
2. Energizing India
- There is focus on uplifting the conditions of various sections of society especially the youth and the vulnerable.
- The conditions of farmers are to be improved through settling the arrears under the FasalBima Yojana, setting up Micro Irrigation Fund and widening the coverage of National Agricultural Market (e-NAM). However perishables are yet to be denotified from APMC acts by the states and model law to regulate contract farming has not come in public domain.
- Mission Antyodaya will be strengthened to bring one crore households out of poverty by 2017. But there are no effective measures to better target the beneficiaries under this scheme.
- Different initiatives for development of youth has been proposed such as SANKALP, next phase of STRIVE, extension of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras etc. But to energize youth of the country, robust IT infrastructure is a necessity which is hampering the learning outcomes in schools, colleges and skill development schemes.
3. Clean India
- It entails removing the evils of corruption, black-money and non-transparent political funding.
- Digital economy is being strengthened through initiatives like JAM trinity, BHIM app, Financial Inclusion Fund, Amending Negotiable Instruments Act etc. But not much has been done to protect the digital payments and transactions from cyber frauds and thefts and accessibility to computers or mobiles is limited to few.
- To bring transparency in the funding of political parties the limit of donation through cash has been fixed at Rs. 2000/- from one person and electoral bonds will also be issued in future.
The budget envisions to ‘transform, energize and clean India’ but it will not be materialized unless there is effective implementation of policies. Therefore the institutions to execute policies must be rejuvenated and a sound mechanism for the monitoring and evaluation of policies should also be established.
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