DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
Srinagar, Feb 1
The BJP in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday termed the interim Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as “people-friendly”, while opposition National Conference claimed it had nothing for the people and was “disappointing”.
“I think this is a very good budget and it will help speed up the development of Kashmir,” BJP’s J-K spokesperson Altaf Thakur said.
“This is a people-friendly budget. The backbone of Kashmir is the tourism industry and the announcement for interest-free loan in the Budget will bring a new revolution in Kashmir’s economy. This provision will take Kashmir’s tourism industry further ahead,” Thakur said.
He also lauded the provisions in the Budget to empower Anganwari and ASHA workers and hailed the announcements made for youth welfare and employment.
National Conference (NC) spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said the people of the Union Territory had high hopes from the interim Budget but it has “disappointed” them.
“As expected, there was not much about price inflation price rise or job creations. So, there was not much that came out of the budget. The price rise is still high; the joblessness in this country is at an all-time high. Nothing was discussed in the budget which the common man or poor will be happy about. I believe it is just a budget and (the government is) playing with the numbers,” he said.
Chasfeeda, a woman entrepreneur, welcomed the finance minister’s women-centric announcements in the Budget and appealed the women to grab the opportunities.
“…The government is doing a lot for women. I think every woman should come forward and take benefit of the opportunity to become independent,” Chasfeeda said.
The Women and Child Development Ministry has been allocated Rs 26,000 crore in 2024-25, an increase of 2.52 per cent from the previous budget.
The Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 (Umbrella ICDS – Anganwadi Services, Poshan Abhiyan, Scheme for Adolescent Girls) saw the highest allocation of funds at Rs 21,200 crore, followed by the Mission Shakti (Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women) which has been given Rs 3145.97 crore.
“We were expecting a change from this budget because the inflation is very high. We were expecting some relief, but unfortunately, there is no change. We now expect that it will be done after the elections,” Suhail Shah, vice-president, Lal Chowk Traders Association, said.
Shah said the traders were expecting some relief in GST or income tax.
“We were expecting that the GST rates would be reduced and we hope it will be done in the future,” he said.
Presenting a vote on account or an interim budget for 2024-25, Sitharaman proposed no changes in income tax rates for individuals and corporates, as well as customs duty.
She hiked capital expenditure to Rs 11.11 lakh crore for 2024-25 while trimming the fiscal deficit for this financial year to 5.8 per cent, from the budgeted 5.9 per cent of GDP, and further lowering to 5.1 per cent in the next fiscal.
