Budget 2023 to be prepared with vision of next 25 years: Government

Can you expect the Budget 2023 to be people-focused? The upcoming Budget 2023 will be an inclusive Budget catering to the masses, assured Dr Bhagwat Karad, Minister of State for Finance, in an exclusive interview to Zee Business. He also said that the Budget 2023 will be prepared to keep in mind that it can address various issues in the coming 25 years.  

His remarks come at a time when India awaits the presentation of the Union Budget by the Finance Minister in Parliament on February 1.

All eyes will be on the Budget 2023 for any announcement on areas such as employment and bank privatization.

The government has introduced several schemes, like the Agneepath scheme, and the Rozgar mela to boost employment, Karad pointed out. It has been actively taking initiatives to generate more employment, and more jobs will be created in the coming months as well, he said.

 “We have identified 10 lakh jobs so far in different sectors and have given 1.5 lakh jobs so far,” the minister said.

According to a report by the economic think-tank CMIE, the unemployment rate in the country's urban areas worsened to 10.09 per cent in December from 8.96 per cent the previous month. The rate in rural areas, however, improved to 7.44 per cent from 7.55 per cent.

Karad pointed out that apart from the creation of jobs directly; the government has introduced several schemes for start-ups, and medium and small enterprises (MSMEs), which have helped in generating employment indirectly.

“Several MSMEs have availed the schemes introduced by the government, and in the past few years, the MSME sector has created six crore jobs. The government has identified 10 lakh jobs so far in different sectors and 1.5 lakh individuals have been employed so far,” he added.

He asserted that even banks are going to create "a good number of jobs" in the coming months. Nearly 30,000 job opportunities will be created in the coming months in the banking sector, he said.

The likely focus on employment comes after the Budget for 2022-23 was criticized by the Opposition for allegedly being pro-rich.

Diamonds are this government’s best friend.

For the rest— farmers, middle class, daily earners, unemployed— this is a PM (Does Not) Care #Budget2022

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) February 1, 2022