Anjana Sukhani writes why she's upset with Arun Jaitley's Budget 2018
Another year, another Union Budget. We wait throughout the year for some relief that would make living less challenging financially. But the Budget does not have much for the middle class. While the income tax slabs have not changed at all, the cess has gone up to 4 per cent from 3 per cent.
For senior citizens, exemption limit on income from interest was raised to Rs 50,000 besides deduction for health insurance premium and medical expenditure to Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh for those with critical illness. That was a silver lining. I’m particularly happy with this as I have three senior citizens in my family.
But I was personally more concerned about income tax slabs, women and child empowerment schemes and health programmes. The finance minister announced the National Health Protection Scheme which will provide health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh a family annually. It will cover over 100 million poor families. This move definitely brings accessible healthcare to the poor.
The Budget has proposed to lower the EPF deduction for women employees who have just started out to only 8 per cent of their salaries as opposed to 12 per cent for the first three years. Also, 80 million women in rural areas will get free gas connections under the Ujjwala Yojana. These are welcome moves.
The Mudra Yojana will also provide loans to first-time women entrepreneurs at concessional rates. The amount of Rs 10 lakh without collateral and a maximum of Rs 50 lakh is a boost.
But it’s sad that the government has allocated only 1 per cent of the total annual expenditure for women and child development. What’s more, the Nirbhaya Fund remains the same at Rs 500 crore despite increased concerns over women’s safety and security. The Ujjwala Yojana definitely increased the LPG connections, but surveys do prove less usage due to increased cost of gas cylinders which negates the entire idea of progress and health for women.
Even maternity benefits - the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana scheme - saw allocation getting reduced from Rs 2,700 crore to Rs 2,400 crore this year. Despite so many claims about women empowerment and gender equality, the government failed its women population on many levels.
It is particularly upsetting for people living in Maharashtra. The state pays the highest tax amount to the Centre and yet we struggle for basic needs to be fulfilled. We all know that if fuel prices increase, the cost of living goes higher. Moreover, unlike in the national capital, we in Maharasthra pay Rs 80.95 for a litre of petrol and Rs 67.78 for diesel, whereas in Delhi fuel costs are much lower. Yet we pay income tax under the same slabs. Is it not unfair?
There is not much the Budget has done to make the “aam aadmi” happy.