The Week India – July 21, 2019

56 THE WEEK • JULY 21, 2019

ECONOMY

BUDGET

Income tax

Higher surcharge for

the ultra rich;

39% tax for

0 2-5 crore, 42.7%

for above 0 5 crore

Costly ride

Higher duties on

petrol and diesel;

get costlier by 02

Losing sheen

Import duty on

precious metals

goes up from 10%

to 12.5%.

C

H

p

gget costlier by 02

Nirmala Sitharaman’s maiden budget tries

to strike a balance between boosting the

economy and redistributing wealth

BY SOUMIK DEY

A mixed

cloth bag

T

he bahi khata (red cloth-

wrapped ledger) usually

symbolises the beginning of a

hopeful new year for tradi-

tional Hindu establishments. But

Finance Minister Nirmala Sithar-

aman’s version that contained the

Union budget set the cat among the

business pigeons.

The fresh levies on the rich caused

much consternation in the business

community, even as the budget sent

a clear message that the second

Narendra Modi government wants

better distribution of economic

growth among the masses. A number

of schemes will benefit the social

groups that voted Modi back to

power—the youth, women, and the

urban and rural poor.

Sitharaman quoted Swami Viveka-

nanda’s writings about the integral

role of women in economic growth

as she announced overdraft facility

of 0 5,000 each for every member of

women’s self-help groups. Women

entrepreneurs will now get collater-

al-free, subsidised loans of 0 1 lakh

under the MUDRA Yojana.

In a bid to utilise India’s demo-

graphic dividend, the government

will focus on imparting new-age

skills to the youth in areas like

artificial intelligence, internet of

things, big data, 3D printing, virtual

reality and robotics. “These skills will

prepare our youth to take up jobs

overseas,” Sitharaman said after the

budget.

For small shopkeepers and traders,

who are traditional BJP voters, the

budget has guaranteed a monthly

income of 0 3,000 after they turn

60. The scheme will benefit traders
    whose annual turnover is less than
    0 1.5 crore—which means it will have
    three crore beneficiaries.
    Traders, however, are not very
    enthused. “We will have to make
    contributions to receive this pension.
    This is a small step that can support
    some, but the real blow is the TDS
    (tax deducted at source) of 5 per
    cent levied on cash withdrawals,”
    said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary
    general, Confederation of All India
    Traders.
    It was Khandelwal who suggested
    a pension scheme for small traders
    during Sitharaman’s pre-budget
    consultations. He said the new tax
    on cash withdrawals of more than
    0 1 crore a year would hurt small

GRAPHICS SREEMANIKANDAN S., SYAM KRISHNAN / ILLUSTRATION JOB P. K.