Samikhya Bureau
In a clear move to woo the middle class voters in the run up to the general elections, finance minister Piyush Goyal on Friday enhanced the limit of individual income tax from Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs.5 lakh per annum.
Unveiling the Interim Budget for 2019-20 in Parliament, the finance minister said the move will benefit three crore people from the middle class. After the new measure, those having an income of Rs.6.5 lakh annually will not have to pay any income tax provided they make investments.
The announcement was marked by unprecedented ‘Modi Modi’ sloganeering in the house and thumping of desks by ruling bench papers. In fact, Goyal had to pause for a while reading his maiden speech and the sixth for the National Democratic Alliance regime.
The finance minister made opportune use of the occasion to thank the tax payers in the country and said the revenues generated by people’s contributions help in taking up various welfare measures for millions of countrymen and women. “Your tax helps give dignity to mothers and sisters with toilet and cooking gas…Your tax pays for the electricity connections for the poor who have lived in darkness for generations,” he said. “The tax you pay provide health care to 50 crores brothers and sisters and their children,” he said it is you – the tax payers – who generate funds for the pension of the retired jawans to get their One Rank One Pension…Thank you tax payers”.
He said because of all these tax measures undertaken by the government, the income tax base for the exchequer has increased manifold. “We have made progress in ensuring moderate taxation, high compliance,” he said.
Amid frequent thumping of desks including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP patriarch L.K. Advani and Union ministers among others but repeatedly yelling by Opposition members, Goyal said the fiscal deficit has been brought down to 3.4 per cent in the revised estimate of 2018-19.
He said the government has also brought down inflation of essential commodities. “Hamari sarkar ney, kamar tod mehangai ki Kamar hi tod di (We have broken the very spinal cord of the inflation)”, the finance minister said adding in December 2018 – thanks to efforts made by the government the inflation rate was brought down to 2.19 per cent. Goyal said without government interventions, every households – poor and the middle class – would have had to spend about 40 per cent extra for essential commodities.
The Bharatiya Janata Party wasted no time in welcoming the announcement. Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah said the middle class has been “more than adequately safe guarded” in this year’s Budget. “These are big decisions by the Modi government for middle class and in fact the government has done more than my expectations,” Shah told reporters in New Delhi.
“Major budget relief to middle class: Moderate taxation – High Compliance regime: Reducing tax burden on ordinary citizens – Tax exemption slab rises to up to 5 Lakh annual income,” BJP general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted.
He also said that the Budget announcement made it clear that the Modi government had taken a “Big step” to arrest corruption in direct taxes establishment. He pointed out that the “computerised system to be in place in next two years eliminating direct interference of officers and clients”.
Ailing Arun Jaitley tweeted from abroad where he is undertaking treatment saying, “The Budget is unquestionably Pro-Growth, Fiscally prudent, Pro-Farmer, Pro-Poor and strengthens the purchasing power of the Indian Middle Class”.
(With agency reports)
