What does Union Budget 2018 hold for the youth?
“Populist” is the term being used for the Budget that Union finance minister Arun Jaitley presented to the House and the nation on February 1. A pro-agriculture, pro-infrastructure budget, as it was, what does this monumental financial decision mean for the future of the nation — the young, the 20-somethings, the millennial?
According to a 25-year-old advertising exec from Mumbai, not much.
“It doesn't affect me at all, so for me it's just a talking point,” he said, adding that, “Stuff I do care about, like commute/travel tickets, eating out prices, buying stuff from Amazon global store, music gear, etc come under GST now.”
His feelings were reciprocated by a young journalist in her 30s, who said, “Nothing. There’s nothing for us”. It would seem like this is the obvious trend.
Aroon, a college student from Pune, on the other hand, voiced some apprehension, when he said he’s “anxious about the taxes I have to pay when I start working”.
But do we have to pay extra income tax now? While in 2017, Jaitley had reduced personal income tax saying, “The present burden of taxation is mainly on honest taxpayers and salaried employees”, this year, the FM perhaps did not feel that young taxpayers feel burdened.
There was no change to the income exemption limit or the income tax rates, but there are a number of changes that will impact the income — like taxing long-term capital gains on investment in stocks and equity mutual funds to change in cess on income tax and a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 for salaried individuals.
According to Ivan Mehta, the tech editor of Killer Features, “I am relieved that there have been no tax slab changes. On the other hand, Bitcoin seemed like an interesting investment opportunity but now it seems that the opportunity is gone because of the government's stance on cryptocurrencies.”
So young Indians felt even cryptocurrency is not for them.
In the last couple of months, cryptocurrency has gained a lot of popularity in India. But things may be looking bleak for those who plan to invest in it. In his Budget speech, Jaitley said, “The government does not recognise cryptocurrency as legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payments system.”
While a certain amount of misreportage during the day caused some panic about the future of cryptocurrencies in India, Sushant Talwar, a 26-year-old tech writer, feels there is nothing to worry about. “The use of cryptocurrencies in India for carrying out transactions was not recognised by the government earlier, and as such, the finance minister's statement in the House does not bring anything new to the table. Despite the government's insistence that digital tokens such as Bitcoins are not recognised as legal tender, because of their decentralised nature, many Indians will continue to hold, transact and trade in Bitcoin and other such virtual currencies in the coming days. Unless of course the government decides to take some radical steps and formulates laws that make dealing and trading in cryptocurrency illegal.”
On the surface, at least, it would seem that the Modi government has really nothing new to offer to the working youth; but what about those who are younger still?
In his speech, Jaitley said that the “launch of National Apprenticeship Scheme with stipend support and sharing of the cost of basic training by the government will give training to 50 lakh youth by 2020”.
In addition, he also said that the government would launch the Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme in 2018, under which 1,000 of the best BTech students each year from premier institutions would be identified and provided with facilities to do PhD in IITs and IISc; along with a fellowship grant.
The finance minister also spoke about the improvement in teaching quality, with plans to initiate an integrated BEd programme for teachers, adding that the Right to Education Act was amended by the Modi government to enable more than 13 lakh untrained teachers to receive training.
He also proposed to increase the “digital intensity” in education and move gradually from “black board” to “digital board”.
And finally, Jaitley also proposed in his speech that to step up investments in research and related infrastructure in premier educational institutions, a major initiative named “Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022” be launched with a total investment of Rs 1,00,000 crore in next four years.
So, while things may not look all that exciting for the working young, there is no doubt that plenty is in store for students.