Union Budget 2022-23: Mirage of promises

The Union Budget 2022 is out. Hopes and dreams of a larger section of the tax-paying population, which is popularly known as middle class, are shattered as there is no immediate relief for them in the Budget presented for the financial year 2022-23. The announced Budget is of Rs 39.4 lakh crore against the previous years' Budget of Rs 37.7 lakh crore.

The relief has come for them (middle class) in a different way – there is no increase in the income tax slab and an opportunity is offered to "correct errors" by updating Income Tax Return on payment of additional tax within two years from the end of the relevant assessment year.

It was expected that the government would make a 'solid' attempt to mollify the middle class and farmers to gain their votes in the ongoing assembly elections in the five states, including Uttar Pradesh.

Even though the tax collection of the government has increased by Rs 2.90 lakh crore over its estimated target of Rs 17.89 lakh crore in the financial year 2021-22, the common man would have to pay Rs 2/litre extra to buy ethanol-free petrol and diesel. Also, the facility of additional exemption of Rs 1.5 lakh on second home loan has been withdrawn in this Budget.

One needs to know that of the total fuel consumption, 52 per cent is ethanol-free, which means the rise in prices would lead to inflation. So, in terms of practicality, it won't go wrong if one says that it's a dream Budget that has laid the foundation to propel the holistic growth of the country by 2047 – when India will complete 100 years of its Independence.

Still, the announcements made in the Budget are hitting the headlines. Reason being it's a Budget of 'Amrit Kaal'. In her Budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "This Budget seeks to lay the foundation and give a blueprint to steer the economy over the Amrit Kaal of the next 25 years – from India at 75 to India at 100. It continues to build on the vision drawn in the Budget of 2021-22. Its fundamental tenets, which included transparency of financial statement and fiscal position, reflect the government's intent, strengths, and challenges. This continues to guide us."

The Budget document talks about impetus on infrastructure and connectivity, but it has no mention about the government's own target of doubling the farmers' income by 2022. At the top of it, there is also no mention of operationalisation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project of Bullet train, as the government had set a target to make Ahmedabad to Mumbai stretch of 508 km operational by December 2023, which doesn't appear possible with the present pace of work. The concerned agency, National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), has completed 100 per cent land acquisition in Gujarat, while land procurement in Maharashtra is not yet completed. The Budget document also skips mention about the building of supposed-to-be 100 Smart Cities.

In the Budget, it has also been stated that there will be 60 lakh employment opportunities in the next five years.

"The productivity-linked incentive in 14 sectors for achieving the vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat has received excellent response and it has potential to create 60 lakh new jobs as well as an additional production of Rs 30 lakh crore during next five years," the FM said.

An economist has summed up the Budget in just a few lines by saying that it's a Budget to full-fill the dreams without any timeframe. "There is no immediate relief to the common man in this Budget. The government is talking about infrastructure development, but the same government is not able to justify the sources of funds that would be pumped in for augmenting the infra-related projects. As per the Budget speech, the allocations for infrastructure makeover are a part of long-term strategy. It's not about the 2022-23 financial year," said Abhas Kumar, who is an assistant professor of economics in Delhi University.

"Post the pandemic, the recovery of the economy is happening in K shape, which means the rich will become richer, while more poor will touch the bottom line. Some sectors would see a growth, while a majority of sectors would see a downfall," he said, adding that digital currency is in its nascent stage and the announcements in this regard would hardly make any positive impact on the economy.

On the launch of Pradhan Mantri e-Vidya scheme, he said: "We all can imagine the fate of a scheme which has a budgetary allocation of just Rs 1 lakh. As the main goal of this initiative is to protect the education of children in the pandemic situation where online classes are taking place, will it be done with just Rs 1 lakh in the kitty?"

On the education front, the government has announced the setting up of a digital university to provide access to students across the country to world-class quality universal education with personalized learning experience at their doorsteps. However, the FM's Budget speech has no mention of progress around the establishment of 10 world-class institutions.

Since the health of the Indian economy has not yet completely recovered from the pandemic, the Union Finance Minister has failed to address the flagging consumer spending which has been drastically reduced due to spurt in the number of unemployed middle class.

While hailing the Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it will help in doubling farmers' income. "An announcement of over Rs 2.25 lakh crore for MSP will be directly transferred (to farmers); the Budget will double farmers' income. For MSMEs, credit guarantee and many new schemes have been announced," PM Modi said, adding that this Budget brings in new hopes and opportunities for the people.

"It strengthens the economy; it's full of 'more infrastructure, more investment, more growth and more jobs'. There is also a new provision for green jobs, and the Budget ensures a bright future for youth," the PM said.

Contrary to PM Modi's claims, agriculture experts said that research and crop diversification, which are the backbone of agrarian growth, have been ignored.

"There's an outlay of Rs 2.37 lakh crore for the procurement of wheat and paddy, which is less than the last year's allocation. How can the government say it wants to double farmers' income when the MSP is offered only for wheat and paddy," said Devinder Sharma, a noted agriculture expert.

"There is no package for crop diversification. The proposal for non-chemical farming along the Ganga is a welcome step but where are the funds? There is no hike in the Kisan Nidhi Yojana benefits. Besides, there is nothing special for the augmentation of agricultural universities as some of them are bound to sell their lands to run the institutions," Sharma said while reacting to the government's move to revamp the curriculum of agricultural universities.

In her Budget speech, the finance minister said that chemical-free 'natural farming' will be promoted throughout the country, with a focus on farmers' lands in 5-km wide corridors along river Ganga, at the first stage.

"To reduce our dependence on import of oilseeds, a rationalised and comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oilseeds will be implemented and a scheme in PPP mode will be launched for delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers," she said, adding that use of 'Kisan Drones' will be promoted for crop assessment, digitisation of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients.

Noted farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has termed the Budget 2022-23 as a mere web of words by saying that it lacked any vision for capital investment in agriculture. "The Budget only carried words like "Amrit Mahotsav", "Gatishakti", "E-Vidya" etc. without meaning much. The Budget would not help the poor, villagers, or farmers but only the corporate," Tikait said, adding that farmers were not getting the MSP.

The Budget has also listed a 'Master Plan for Expressways' that will be formulated in 2022-23 under the scheme and projects the addition of 25,000 kilometres of roads to the National Highways network.

The government has also proposed to provide 80 lakh houses in the year 2022-23 for the identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana, both rural and urban, and Rs 48,000 crore has been allocated for this purpose.

There will be GenNext passports in the coming days as the government has announced issuance of e-Passports using embedded chip and futuristic technology in 2022-23 to enhance convenience for the citizens in their overseas travel.

The new announcement that would prove to be helpful for e-vehicle users is battery swapping policy as it would allow users to swap the battery of their e-vehicles at any e-charging station instead of waiting for hours to get the battery of the e-vehicle charged.

Commenting on the Budget announcement, president of BP India, Sashi Mukundan, said: "This is a forward-looking budget and reinforces the government's commitment to indigenous and sustainable clean energy. Low carbon initiatives including a battery swapping policy, energy as a service model, production-linked incentive to accelerate solar energy at scale and issuance of green bonds are steps in the right direction."

Another announcement is regarding 30 per cent tax on income earned from transacting in digital assets i.e., cryptocurrencies and NFTs (non-fungible tokens), along with 1 per cent of TDS at the source of digital earnings. It is must to mention here that cryptocurrency is not legalised in the country. However, a committee has been asked to come up with rules and regulations.

Health is wealth. So, in 2022-23, the Budget estimate for the health sector is Rs 86,200.65 crore, which is just 3.8 per cent increase from the revised Budget estimate of Rs 82,920 crore in the year 2021-22. Apart from this, the government has also announced setting up of the National Tele Mental Health Programme to facilitate access to quality mental health counselling and care services. The NIMHANS will be the nodal centre, and the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) will provide technology support.

Hailing the government's move, Suryaprabha Sadasivan of Chase India said: "The long-term effects of the pandemic include an impact on mental health in terms of anxiety and depression related to the virus itself and the socio-economic downturn. Therefore, including access to quality mental health counselling and care services through a 'National Tele Mental Health Programme' is promising."

"However, the Budget allocation does not consider the three key pillars of strengthening the health system — resilience, health security, and universal health coverage. The total increment of budgetary allocation for healthcare vis-à-vis last year is almost negligible (0.2 per cent), which is highly disappointing," Sadasivan said.

Recognising the importance of 'Nari Shakti' as the harbinger of India's bright future and for women-led development during the 'Amrit Kaal', the FM has increased the budgetary allocation for the Women and Child Development Ministry by 3 per cent. The WCD Ministry gets Rs 25,172.28 crore in 2022-23, which is a slight increase of 3 per cent from Rs 24,435 crore that was given in 2021-22.

Views expressed are personal