By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 1 Feb: Dr Vijay Dhasmana, Chancellor of Swami Rama Himalayan University (SRHU), Jolly Grant, and former President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Uttarakhand, said today that the interim union budget is good and solid for the vision of a prosperous and inclusive India. This is a very important budget in the direction of the Prime Minister’s goal of making the country a developed India by the year 2047. It is going to fulfil the hopes of every section of society and the overall development of the country, including the welfare of the poor, farmers, youth and women. This budget has been presented to understand how to move forward towards the goal of creating a developed India.
In the budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman described the poor class, women, youth and farmers as the four castes of developed India. All four were described as the top priority of the government. For a developed India, it is very important for all four to be strong in the country. This is a welcome step of the government.
After the Covid crisis, the government has placed special focus on the health sector. The government has also understood that it is good for the health of the common person to be healthy for the country. The announcement of the Finance Minister to constitute a new committee to open new medical colleges in the country is welcome. There is a huge shortage of doctors in the country and to meet this, it is necessary that more medical colleges be opened. This would strengthen the health care delivery system.
In the interim budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has given priority to women’s health in the announcements made regarding the health sector. The government will run a vaccination programme to prevent cervical cancer in women. Girls aged 9-14 years are included. Under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, all ASHAs and Anganwadi workers and helpers will get the benefit.
Rs 1 lakh crore fund has been created for the field of research and innovation. Till now, generally, only government educational institutions used to get funds for research in the field of health and technology. But it has been proposed to include non-government educational institutions also. This is a commendable step. Due to this, whatever research is done in the field of health, the general public will directly benefit.
The government’s focus on tourism has been special this time, which is also welcome. There is immense potential for the development of tourism in the country and the Central Government has said that every state should develop an iconic tourist centre. This will increase the number of foreign tourists and increase the income of the nation.
Entrepreneurship is very important for the economic development of the country. India is the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. Like the first budget, the government has focused in this budget on further developing the startup ecosystem in the country. The provision of income tax benefits as well as many other facilities for the startup sector will continue in the interim budget also.
