The 2021 Union Budget of India was presented by the Minister of Finance on 1 February 2021. The budget is the first one to be presented orally due to ongoing COVID pandemic.[2]
History
The Union Budget is the annual financial report of India; an estimate of income and expenditure of the government under the Indian Constitution; presenting a budget is a compulsory task of the government.
Background
There was huge speculation that government may increase tax rates to decrease its fiscal deficit so, there was a dip in BSE Sensex after touching the 50,000 marks other than that many economic journals also suggested introducing a new tax on High net worth individuals. The demand in the Indian market was low and the unemployment rate was very high so, the Budget has to Increase both the demand and new jobs.[citation needed]
Healthcare and wellbeing
The Government of India allocated Rs. 2,23,846 crore in this financial year which is increase of 137% from the previous financial year, of which 35,000 crore rupees is allocated for Covid-vaccines, 64,180 crore rupees is allocated for PM Aatma Nirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana and other announcements are -
17,788 rural and 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centers.
4 regional National Institutes for Virology
15 Health Emergency Operation Centers and 2 mobile hospitals
Integrated public health labs in all districts and 3382 block public health units in 11 states
Critical care hospital blocks in 602 districts and 12 central institutions
Strengthening of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), its 5 regional branches and 20 metropolitan health surveillance units
Expansion of the Integrated Health Information Portal to all States/UTs to connect all public health labs
17 new Public Health Units and strengthening of 33 existing Public Health Units
Regional Research Platform for WHO South-East Asia Region
9 Bio-Safety Level III laboratories
Mission Poshan 2.0 for to improve nutritional outcomes[3]
Universal Coverage of Water Supply
The Government of India pledged to allocate Rs. 2,87,000 crore in next 5 financial year for jal jeevan mission which will serve 2.86 crore household.[4]
Swachch Bharat
Swachch Bharat mission 2.0 was launched and pledged to allocate RS. 2,87,000 crore in next financial year which will mainly focus on faecal sludge management, waste water treatment and Bio-remediation of all legacy dump sites.
Clean Air
The Government allocated Rs. 2,217 crore to tackle air pollution, for 42 urban centers with a million-plus population.
Scrapping Policy
The Government launched Voluntary vehicle scrapping policy, By this policy the Government will make automated fitness centers to identify old and unfit vehicles, the government will also give incentive to scrap those cars and buy new cars.
Mega Investment Textile Parks(MITRA) scheme is launched by Indian government to make 7 Textile parks in three years and attract investment in the textile sector.
Finance minister allocated Rs. 1.1 lakh crore of which Rs. 1.07 lakh crore is for capital spending, the government has planned make Indian Railways future Ready by 2030s, Electrify all Broad Gauge lines by December 2023, Add vistadome coaches in Tourist Routes, Use Indigenously developed automatic train protection system and proposed three new Dedicated freight corridors.
East Coast corridor from Kharagpur to Vijayawada.
East-West Corridor from Bhusaval to Kharagpur to Dankuni.
North-South corridor from Itarsi to Vijayawada.
Announcements
Census
Nirmala Sitharaman confirmed in her budget speech that 2021 census will be first ever digital census in India.[5] The Finance Minister allocated ₹ 3,768 crore for carrying out the census in 2021 Union budget of India.[6]
