Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leaves after briefing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs on the Union Budget 2023-24 at Parliament House in New Delhi on Friday. , Photo Credit: ANI
BJP MPs on Friday discussed the merits and demerits with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman new and old income tax regime At a briefing here on the Union Budget, which was presented in Parliament on Wednesday.
Members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were present at the briefing on the budget, which was the last full budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and for which the BJP has prepared a massive outreach programme, highlighting key highlights.
“There was a power point presentation on the budget and its highlights, but the finance minister explained in detail the new and old income tax schemes and the changed slabs. Tax issues have always required such clarifications, they are never easy, and there were questions on the relative merits and demerits of many MPs,” said a BJP MP present at the meeting.
Questions were also raised over the reduction in allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) as compared to the previous few years. The budget allocated ₹60,000 crore for MGNREGA, which is 18% lower than the current year’s budget estimate of ₹73,000 crore, and 33% less As against the Revised Estimates of ₹89,000 crore for the scheme.
To this, the Finance Minister said that the increased allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, up to 66% in this budget, would create equal employment generation, especially for tier two and tier three cities. She said there was a situation to increase the allocation during COVID-19, and the plan is largely based on demand,” said the source.
Expansive capital expenditure was also mentioned in detail in the budget, and was flagged as something that BJP MPs should speak about when talking about the budget. Mahila Samman Patra, a small savings instrument for women with an interest rate of up to 7.5% on deposits up to Rs 2 lakh, was also talked about.
The BJP on Friday began its outreach program on the budget with press conferences by chief ministers of party-ruled states. As part of the programme, Union ministers will also visit state capitals to talk about the salient features of the budget.