We welcome the measures announced by Hon’ble Finance Minister in Union Budget 2021-22. The budget rightly strikes a reasonable balance between addressing the key pillars of Health & Well-being, Inclusive Development, Human Capital, Innovation and R&D, apart from laying the path for a robust economy by providing a major infrastructure boost. The array of measures announced are in line with people as well as market expectations and will go a long way to bring the nation back on track by boosting spending on infrastructure and rural development while fighting the pandemic through health focused measures.
As far as the financial sector is concerned, further recapitalization of Rs 20,000 crore for PSBs in the FY 2021-22 is a welcome step. The other measures which are expected to strengthen the sector are as under:
- Various measures have been announced on the infrastructure front, which are expected to take the economy into a new trajectory of growth. In addition to over a 34% increase in capital expenditure, new highway projects have also been announced.
- Setting up of a professionally managed Development Financial Institution will catalyze infrastructure funding.
- Creation of an ARC and Asset Management Company that will take over the stressed assets and sell to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), is also welcome as it will help improve the health of the banking sector through impact on price discovery and improving competition in the market.
- The NCLT system will be strengthened and e-Courts will be adopted and alternate mechanism of debt resolution will be set up.
- The massive program for monetization of completed/ running projects will help in creating required resources through the instruments like INVITs.
- Other important announcements of bringing in the IPO of LIC, hiking the FDI limit in insurance increase to 74% from 49%, strategically divest 2 Public Sector Banks and 1 general insurance company, are steps in the right direction.
The voluntary scrapping policy proposed for discarding old commercial vehicles will boost the automobile industry. The gross borrowing programme is also helpful to maintain the fiscal health of the economy, while providing necessary funding towards growth and development of the infrastructure.
Ms. Shweta Sastri, Managing Director, Canadian International School, Bangalore Said-
The union budget 2021 is definitely a progressive one that revives the economy especially in the context of the pandemic and creates positive sentiment. This was probably the most awaited Union Budget for the education sector in the past decade with education of millions of children in India impacted by the world’s largest school closure in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has proposed a few new measures for India’s education system and laid emphasis on improving quality of education.
Education plays an important role in bringing a change in society across generations and more so now in this technological age. Measures like strengthening 15,000 schools will lead to greater qualitative education for children across the country. Focus on skilling in collaboration with UAE will also lead to children gaining greater employability in future. The initiative to set up a Higher Education Commission responsible for the accreditation and regular funding of the Colleges and Universities will lead to greater synergy of institutions. The setting up of 750 Ekalavya residential schools in tribal areas and focus on the welfare of SC students with a massive outlay for the next 5 years will also give a boost to the under privileged children and enable access to quality education for them. The initiative by the Government to maintain the research ecosystem by collaborating with many countries starting with Japan will enhance the scope of education in the areas of technology and knowledge.
Education clearly is one of the most important investments a country can make in its people and their future. Our education system needs to be self-reliant and globally competitive. With education being the key component in shaping the future workforce, an enhanced focus on education will help schools to manage costs of online education which has become a necessity now. Going forward, the government must continue to take initiatives such as allocating bigger spending on education, push greater digitization and balancing of the urban-rural gap in education. With India set to be an international educational destination in the current decade, government must act to meet the needs of an aspiring generation which is looking to the future with great hope.
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