- By Nidhi Giri
- Tue, 23 Jul 2024 12:25 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Union Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, July 23. This is Sitharaman's seventh consecutive budget, marking a significant milestone in her tenure as the country's finance minister. The budget presentation which began at 11 am focused on women, poor, youth and farmers, framing the roadmap for achieving the government's vision of a "Viksit Bharat" or Developed India by 2047.
The Union Budget will provide schemes worth Rs 3 lakh crore benefitting women and girls, announced the FM Nirmala Sitharaman. To promote women participation in the workforce, she said the Central government will be setting up working women hostels. The Finanace Minister further said that this signals the government's commitment in enhancing women's role in economic development.
"For promoting women-led development, the Budget carries an allocation of more than Rs 3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls," she said.
“The government will set up working women hostels to promote women participation in the workforce,” the finance minister announced.
Union Budget 2024: Major Agriculture Upgrades
The Centre has announced a major boost to the agriculture sector with the allocation of Rs 1.52 lakh crore. Sitharaman added that India’s inflation continued to remain low, and stable.
Nirmala Sitharaman said, “We need to focus on the garib (poor), mahilaye (women), yuva (youth), and annadata (Farmers). For annadata, we announced a higher MSP a month ago for all major crops, delivering on our promise. The PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was extended for five years, benefiting more than 80 crore people.”
Nirmala Sitharaman announced that new 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and cultivation crops will be released for farmers in this financial year. The Budget laid out nine priorities for the year ahead, one of them being productivity and resilience in agriculture. The government will undertake a comprehensive review of research to develop climate resilient seeds, Sitharaman announced.
READ MORE: Union Budget 2024 LIVE Updates: Nirmala Sitharaman Announces Big Bonanza For Bihar, Andhra Pradesh
In the next two years, one crore farmers will be initiated in natural farming, it was announced. Rs 2.66 lakh crore will be provided for rural development, the FM said. The Finance Minister said that the government will do a comprehensive review of the agricultural research set-up to raise productivity and develop climate-resilient varieties. Domain experts will oversee the conduct of this research to ensure its effectiveness and relevance, it was announced.
Speaking on the Budget 2024, Aparna Acharekar, Co-founder, coto, said, “The 2024-2025 Union Budget has kept women empowerment as one of the primary goals for the year and we, at coto, are pleased with the same. By giving a major push towards women-led participation, the budget focuses on encouraging more women into the workforce, thereby also boosting women entrepreneurship, which is aligned with coto’s vision. The introduction of partnerships to formulate women-specific skilling programmes along with setting up of working women hostels and creches only showcases the government’s strong commitment to empower young girls and women across socio-economic groups, further strengthening India’s economy. In addition to this, the allocation of over ?3 lakh crore for schemes benefiting women and girls highlights this dedication even further."
"From an investment perspective, the removal of Angel Tax will allow for a more supportive environment for angel investment, ultimately benefiting the entire startup ecosystem and encouraging more entrepreneurship. We hope that these schemes and initiatives are implemented with a greater sense of dedication and urgency to meet the desired goals set for the future," she said.