Budget to provide relief to poor, farmers: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said that the focus of the Modi government is to give poor people and farmers relief and thus the budget has allocated Rs 2,83,000 crore for agriculture.

"Our Prime Minister has the thought to give poor people and farmers relief. The union budget is a step in that direction. Rs 2,83,000 crore has been allocated for agriculture. There is an entire roadmap for the betterment of agriculture," Prasad told .

"The focus on new economy, i.e., on Artificial intelligence and electronics manufacturing is commendable. More villages will be connected through fibre optic cables. We have become the second-biggest manufacturers of electronic items after China. Education and Health have been focused on as well," he added.

On being asked about the opposition's claim that the government is not working on job creation, Prasad said, "If you look at Employees Provident Fund then more than 2.5 crore new subscribers have been registered. This registration is only for those who get jobs. Around 6 lakh people got jobs in electronics manufacturing units. The Common Service Centres increased from 60,000 to 3,65,000 in which 12 lakh employees are engaged. So many roads have been built in which several persons got employed."

"The economic slowdown is majorly a result of international factors. Our financial fundamentals are strong and we will come out stronger," he added.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday presented Union Budget for 2020-21, which proposes to give the Indian economy an impetus to emerge as more vibrant and stronger.

With an emphasis on capacity building and empowerment of marginalised sections of society including farmers, the Union Budget intends to ensure, as said by Sitharaman, that "our people should be gainfully employed. Our businesses should be healthy. For all minorities, women and people from SCs and STs, this Budget aims to fulfil their aspirations."

In the longest Union Budget speech in history, Sitharaman talked about tax regime, finance, agriculture, irrigation, water, station, healthcare, education, infrastructure, women, digital connectivity among others.

( With inputs from ANI )