The most awaited Union Budget was announced in the parliament yesterday. As the first budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, there have been several speculations on how useful the budget will prove to be in the scenario of a sluggish economy. There are various key points of the budget that may prove to be quite impactful, like boosting foreign investment, infrastructural development and an additional relief on Rs. 1.5 lacs on home loans.
On the other hand, things that are quite questionable include a hike in excise duty on fuel, as Re. 1 cess/litre of diesel and petrol, which clearly implies that these are now going to be even more expensive. Among numerous aspects of the budget, it is important to notice that there has been no breakthrough in the fields of education, agriculture and health, which are issues as important as the GDP and industrialisation.
Allocation In The Education Sector
- ‘Study in India’ program, so that more foreign students choose India as a higher education destination.
- Rs 400 crore allocated for world-class, higher education institutions in 2020.
- National research foundation to fund, coordinate and promote research in the country.
- Establishing a Higher Education Commission with focus on a higher autonomy.
- National education policy to propose changes in school, higher education.
If we carefully analyse, this appears to be using education more as a source of additional income. It cannot be denied that education, first and foremost, is a basic need and should be accessible to every individual in the country. And by education, I mean quality education and not just a dilapidated classroom with no teacher whatsoever. Quality education still remains a privilege to the financially superior category and there seems to be no efforts shown in terms of investing in developing the government schools in a better way.
What exactly do they mean by world-class higher education? Do we deduce this as foreign professors teaching in schools? Or, may be more emphasis will be laid on an international system of education to be deployed in India. The problem with this education system in this country doesn’t really lie with the ‘degree’, but to make students more employable. Isn’t it more important to focus on how Indian students can stay in India and not go to some other country instead of focusing more on attracting foreign students to India? How do we expect foreign students to be content with Indian institutions when our own students are not?
Coming to encouragement in research through the National Research Committee; well this is an area wherein India has failed to achieve anything significant for years now. And once again, to have a strong research foundation the level of investment and infrastructure need to be generous. None of the projected points have been backed with indications for the required steps, rather, these remain vague points just to complete the list.
Healthcare
Now coming to the healthcare sector, this has been further neglected in a much unexpected way. A substantial allocation should have been done towards improving the miserable condition of government hospitals, availability of medicines and treatment equipments. However there has been no such prominent mention. It is already evident that Ayushman Yojna isn’t serving the purpose of tackling malnutrition and providing medical facilities for the economically marginalised.
Farmers’ Woes
The next important, and perhaps, the most critical one is the consideration for farmers, if any. Certain points projected in this area are introduction of Zero-Budget farming, promoting more farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and creating business and livelihood incubators. However, aspects like combating droughts and price collapse find no mention in the budget. Even if there is an intent, the content and the strategies are completely missing.
Well, only time will tell whether this is going to be a budget of catch-phrases only or some action too, and also if India will really emerge as a $5 trillion economy as speculated.