Manipur CM hails farsighted budget that lays foundation of 'Ease of living', thanks PM, FM

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday, praised the Union Budget 2021-22 and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for their efforts in presenting a 'farsighted Budget'. He lauded the Budget by saying that it is the foundation vision document for a new decade that underlines six pillars, that is, health and well-being, physical and financial capital, inclusive development for aspirational India, reinvigorating human capital, innovation, and research and development as well as minimum government maximum governance.

While addressing a press conference, Singh said, "The budget will lay the foundation of 'Ease of Living' because it has underlined the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for their efforts in presenting a farsighted Budget that aims at 'Universal Well-Being' during the testing times of COVID-19."

"Under the Ujjwala Yojana, 8 crore families received free gas cylinders. In Budget 2021-22, a proposal has been made to expand the reach of the scheme to 1 crore new beneficiaries. The Government has also tried to make a provision for ensuring One Country, One Ration Card accessible to migrant laborers," the Manipur CM added.

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Union Budget 2021

Kicking off the new decade with India's first paperless budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 tabled the Union Budget in the Parliament. Presenting one of the shortest budget speeches (1 hour 40 mins), Budget 2021 focussed mainly on Healthcare, National Monetization Pipeline, disinvestment, infrastructure, agriculture, fiscal deficit, and direct taxes. In the first post-COVID budget, FM Sitharaman allocated 2.83 lakh crores in this year's Union Budget - a 137% in Health budget, announced a 'National Monetization Pipeline' which covered key state assets to be monetized. The Centre also allowed strategic disinvestment of several PSUs and increased the FDI limit from 49% to 74% and allow foreign ownership and control with safeguards. With the economy hit by COVID, the Fiscal deficit of FY-2021-2022 was pegged at 6.8% of GDP while FY-2020-21's fiscal deficit was pegged at 9.5% GDP and kept the state's share of the Central taxes at 41%, while J&K and Ladakh will be funded by Centre.

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While the Budget witnessed the usual criticism from the Opposition, it received praises from many of the industry experts. Raymond MD S Gautam Singhania and Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education, and other experts lauded it with terms like 'forward-looking' and more.

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(With ANI Inputs)