"No New Taxes for those....": FM Sitharaman
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New Delhi, Jan 16: Ahead of the budget session in the Parliament, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said she identifies herself as middle class and that she understands the trouble faced by this section. “I belong to the middle class and identify myself as a middle class so I can understand them,” she said at an event organized by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) magazine Panchjanya.
She further said that the current government has not imposed any new taxes for those who earn below ₹5 lahks annually. The Union minister also said that the Centre has taken various measures such as building smart cities, promoting ease of living, and developing a metro rail network addressing the issue of the middle class. Sitharaman added that the government has been increasing the outlay on capital expenditure in each budget session since 2020.
It has been increased by 35 percent to ₹7.5 lakh crore in the current financial year, she added. Modi government has not levied any new tax on the middle class in any budget so far. No tax is levied on people who earn a salary up to ₹5 lahks (annually). The middle class uses public transport the most and we brought the metro (railway) to 27 places. A lot of middle class people are moving to cities in search of jobs and we are focusing on the goal of smart cities. We will continue our work for the middle class. Modi government has been working on the 4Rs – Reduce, resolve, recapitalize, reform – to reduce non-performing assets (NPA) and the health of public sector banks. Political parties should allocate their budget to the freebie they promise. The question they (political parties) should ask is whether the promises made by political parties before elections can be fulfilled considering the financial condition of the state. India was among the ‘Fragile Five’ economies in the world in 2013. Since the Modi government came to power in 2014, India's economy has undergone significant changes that have led to it now being the fastest-growing economy in the world. Despite the rupee fluctuating in comparison with the dollar, people believe India has a stable government and there is no disbalance in policies. The Indian rupee is doing well if compared with other currencies except dollar.
Foreign organizations, which come up with such indices (for economic surveys) using secondary impressions, are not government organizations. Such indices are often used to target the Indian government. We should question the methodology used by these organizations, their data, and their intentions.