FM will tour states to explain Budget benefits to public

Jaitley is expected to clear the air surrounding fund transfer

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will tour close to a dozen states to provide the public with a broad picture of the recently presented Union Budget and explain its benefits, particularly for the middle-class and the social sector.

The tour is being taken to counter allegations that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s first full Budget was pro-corporate with little focus on the middle income group.

Jaitley’s tour is expected to begin immediately after BJP’s National Executive currently underway in Bengaluru.

Many states

The Finance Minster is expected to cover the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Assam, West Bengal, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

“The visit is being planned at the instance of senior party leaders who feel that the Budget has proposed many a scheme for the poor, old people and the social sector, but those have been eclipsed by slogans of the Budget being pro-corporate,” according to an official.

Jaitley too has said on many occasions that no government in the past has given so many concessions to the middle-class as the present one through two successive Budgets presented in a span of seven months.

Promote healthcare

With a view to encourage savings and promote healthcare among individual taxpayers, the Budget for 2015-16 has proposed a number of measures to be taken by way of incentives under the Income Tax Act.

The tax deduction limit has been raised to Rs 4,44,200 in the Budget this year.The government has been under attack from the Opposition and analysts for being lenient to the corporate sector after it proposed to reduce corporation tax rate from the current 30 per cent to 25 per cent from the next fiscal.

Jaitley is also expected to clear the air on the fund transfer to states following the recommendation of 14th Finance Commission. Analysts have pointed out that even as the states’ share of taxes collected by the central government is expected to rise, total grants and loans to states and Union Territories will commensurately decrease.

“The Finance Minister’s visit will also be used to dispel the myth and propaganda spread by the Opposition on the amendments brought out in the Land Acquisition Bill. The Opposition has spread the canard that it is anti-farmer, we will clear the air,” the official said.