Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the MPs on Friday ahead of the Parliament session, had hinted that there would be blessings from Goddess Lakshmi. The budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday makes that hint a reality. There were references in the policy speech delivered by President Draupadi Murmu at the beginning of the Parliament session, indicating that the upcoming budget will benefit the middle class and the common people of the country. The Finance Minister made the middle class extremely happy by giving the biggest relief in history, but it was not seen in the budget speech that she gave any major relief schemes for other sections. The help of experts is needed to understand the general nature of the budget after the new arrangement of reducing the budget presentation to the minimum and providing all the details as supplementary documents came into effect. One has to wait for hours for that.

Although only five percent of the population falls under the direct tax bracket, the significant reduction in tax liability has resulted in a reduction of Rs 1.10 lakh crore in the government's revenue per year. The Finance Minister has presented the biggest benefit ever for the salaried category. Those with salaries and incomes up to Rs 12 lakh per month will no longer have to pay tax. The Finance Minister has announced that Rs 12.75 lakh will be tax-free if the standard deduction is added. The new scheme will not apply to those who pay taxes in the old way. The changed tax structure will force those in that category to join the new scheme.

The Finance Minister announced that a new tax law bill to simplify the country's tax laws will be introduced next week. Some changes in the existing taxes have been made in the budget itself. The standard deduction for senior citizens has been increased from half a lakh to one lakh and the income tax exemption on investment interest has been increased to one lakh. This is a huge benefit. Similarly, the exemption on rent will be increased to six lakh. It can be said that the huge exemptions made in income tax have made other announcements in the budget irrelevant. This may be the reason why the opposition parties initially came forward to criticize the budget as something that does not benefit the common man. It should be remembered that such assessments were made before reading and understanding the features and beneficial announcements of the budget.

The budget includes many schemes that are in line with the development journey aimed at a developed India by 2047. The Finance Minister explained them by dividing them into ten sectors and numbering them. One of these is the Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhanya Yojana. Expanding crop diversity and increasing agricultural production are part of this. The storage system will also be increased. It is expected that 1.7 crore farmers will benefit from this. The Economic Survey report says that GDP growth will not even reach 7 percent, but the Finance Minister assures that there is no need to despair. The agricultural sector is moving forward strongly. Increased production will help prevent price increases. The budget includes proposals that will help growth in any way. Farmers who have taken Kisan cards will now be able to take a loan of Rs. 5 lakh. It is currently 3 lakh. Women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be assured of loans to start businesses.

The reduction in the price of mobile phones and electric vehicles following the reduction in duty on batteries will help increase their sales. A good announcement in the budget is the complete removal of import duty on 36 medicines for fatal diseases, including cancer. Cancer treatment facilities in district hospitals and duty exemption on medical equipment imported from abroad will provide relief to patients. If we move to the education sector, Internet access through Bharat Net in all government schools in the country, modernization and development of Anganwadis, development of five IITs including Palakkad, three centres of excellence to promote AI education, increase in seats in government medical colleges by 10,000 every year for the next five years, and a special plan to develop AI technology are all noteworthy. The Finance Minister has also included a plan in the budget to expand the services of the 1.5 lakh post offices in the country. The post offices are being planned to be made the largest logistics hub in the country. This is aimed at regional development. The announcement of providing interest-free loans of Rs 1.5 lakh crore to the states will provide relief to the states crying out for central assistance. There are also development plans in the aviation sector. UDAN flight services will be expanded. Loans of up to Rs 2 crore to women entrepreneurs, the extension of the Jal Jeevan Mission period till 2028, medical and pilgrimage tourism development projects, 100 percent foreign investment in the insurance sector, and 100 small airports in ten years will ensure economic growth.

As usual, the budget has made big announcements for Bihar, where assembly elections are being held next year. The Makhana Board, a protein storage centre for vegetarians, is one of them. The aim is to increase lotus seed production. Patna airport renovation, a new greenfield airport, and IIT development are some of the projects announced for Bihar. The Finance Minister did not even mention the names of other states. Although there is no mention of new welfare schemes aimed at the common people, the assistance to the states is detailed in the supplementary documents of the budget. Since it takes time to analyze them in detail, only a brief version of the budget is available. The new trend is that the railway budget will be included in the general budget and then completely ignored in the budget speech. The big shortcoming is that people will not be able to know many good and bad things in the budget in real-time.

It is estimated that the revenue shortfall of over one lakh crore rupees due to tax exemptions will not be a major liability. Experts estimate that the profit generated by the taxpayers through the exemptions will reach the government through the market. There is a reason why scholars assess rather than a public welfare budget, this is a political budget that cleverly hides politics. In any case, it is a great relief that the budget does not contain proposals to impose heavy taxes that will increase the living burden of the common man.