Sukhbir Singh Badal terms Budget 2020 as pro-farmer and pro-poor
Budget 2020: Hailing the Union Budget 2020 as pro-farmer and pro-poor, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said the common man would be benefitted due to reduction in income tax even as the ground had been laid for achieving higher GDP by giving a boost to digitization, infrastructure and industry.
In a statement here, the SAD President welcomed the Rs 15 lakh crore allocation for the agricultural sector. He said farmers across the country, including Punjab, would be benefitted by the government’s decision to go solar by subsidizing 20 lakh standalone solar pumps. He said similarly the decision to set up Kisan Rail through PPP mode to transport perishable goods quickly as well as Krishi Udaan to transport agriculture goods to national and international destinations would give a much needed boost to the vegetable and horticulture sector in Punjab.
“Insurance cover given to six crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna is also a path breaking step and will shield farmers from the vagaries of nature”, he added. He also lauded incentives given for fish farming and balanced fertilizers.
Badal said the common man would be benefitted with the simplification of the tax regime. He said those earning Rs ten lakh would now have to pay an income tax of only Rs 62,000 which represented a saving of Rs 37,500 from the previous tax regime. “The average household is also now saving four per cent of monthly spend due to reduced GST rates”. He said the allocation of Rs 3.6 crore for provision of piped water supply was a major pro-poor step.
The SAD President also welcomed provision of Rs 85,000 crore for the welfare of scheduled castes and backward classes. He said as much as Rs 27,300 crore for development of industry and commerce besides launch of the national textile mission at a cost of Rs 1,480 crore. “This coupled with the government’s decision to restructure loans of more than five lakh MSMEs would help in revival of small units”, added. https://www.ptcnews.tv/nirmala-sitharaman-budget-2020-narendra-modi-lok-sabha-income-tax/
Badal also welcomed the digital revolution being unleashed by the government particularly in the rural sector. He said the decision to lay optical fibre in one lakh gram panchayats would bring digitization to villages and would help the youth tremendously. He said simultaneous efforts to boost infrastructure by making new economic corridors, allocating Rs 28,600 crore for women linked programmes, making government functioning transparent and also allocating funds to tackle air pollution were laud worthy. -PTC News
