Budget focuses on wealth & wellness; has farmers at its heart: PM

Asserting that villages and farmers are at the heart of the Union Budget presented on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it has put a lot of emphasis on strengthening the farming sector and increasing farmers' income while making an allocation to further empower agriculture mandis.

In televised remarks after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget, Modi said it has many provisions for the agriculture sector, including for making loans easier for farmers.

His comments came amid long-running protests by a section of farmers against three agri laws, with protesting farmer unions demanding their repeal and the government insisting that they are for the good of farmers but offering to put them for 18 months.

Lauding the budget, Modi said one hardly comes across a budget that elicits so much positive response within an hour or two of its presentation, and noted that this was tabled under extraordinary circumstances when many experts were of the view that the government will put more burden on the common man.

The budget carries the vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) and lays a strong foundation as a new decade begins, he said.

"This budget has a feel of reality and confidence of development as well and showcases India's self-belief. It will also infuse new confidence in the world in these difficult times," he said, in reference to the Covid pandemic hitting the global economy hard.

"We have taken the approach of widening new opportunities for growth, creation of new opportunities for our youth, giving a new dimension to human resources, develop new sectors for infrastructure development, and moving towards technology and bringing new reforms in this Budget," he said.

It's a pro-active budget that gives a boost to wealth as well as wellness, Modi said.

This budget talks of all-around development for all parts of the country with a focus on southern and North East India besides Ladakh, he said, adding that it is a "big step" towards making coastal states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal a "business powerhouse".

It is also aimed at boosting people's ease of living by simplifying procedures and rules, and seeks to bring about positive changes for the infrastructure sector, industry, investors and individuals, the prime minister said.

Expressing happiness that the transparency factor of the budget has been appreciated by experts, he said it budget doesn't have an iota of "reactive" and has been "pro-active" with its focus on wealth as well as wellness.

Noting that the MSME sector allocation has been doubled to improve employment opportunities, Modi said the budget's emphasis on research and innovation will help the youth.

The common man and woman will benefit from stress on health, sanitation, nutrition, clean water and equality of opportunities while enhanced allocation in infrastructure and procedural reforms will lead to job creation and growth, he said.

Amit Shah terms budget all-inclusive, a guide to self-reliant India

Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday termed the Budget 2021-22 a guide to "self-reliant India" and said it has strengthened Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts towards doubling farmers' income and making India the fastest growing economy in the world.

In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah lauded the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and said the "all-inclusive budget" was prepared under the guidance of the Prime Minister amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

"This will pave the way for a self-reliant India, a $5 trillion economy and double the income of farmers," he said.

He thanked the Prime Minister for earmarking Rs 35,000 crore for vaccine against coronavirus saying, "Our sensitive Prime Minister @narendramodi has announced Rs 35,000 crore fund for vaccination against coronavirus. This shows Modi's resolve to make India coronavirus free. I thank Modiji for this".

Shah said the prime minister has been devoted to the welfare of farmers since day one and numerous efforts have been made to double their income. Taking this goal forward, he said, the government is ensuring fixing the Minimum Support Price at one and half times more than the cost which showed the commitment of the Modi government.

The government has made a provision of Rs 16.5 lakh crore in this year's budget to provide easy loan to the farmers of the country.

Also, the micro-irrigation fund has been doubled and five agricultural hubs will be built in the country, a move which will give boost to this sector, he said.

Shah said that the procurement of paddy at MSP has been doubled this year, benefiting 1.5 crore farmers of the country and this reflected the Prime Minister's devotion for the welfare of the farmers and commitment for the MSP.

In his tweets with hashtag #AatmanirbharBharatKaBudget (Budget of a self-reliant India), Shah also said that the budget 2021-22 will pave the way for a self-reliant India.

• BUDGET 2021