New Delhi | Congress Leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor today responding to the Interim Budget termed it as a squib.
Speaking to News Agency ANI, Tharoor said,” The whole exercise has turned out to be a damn squib. We’ve seen one good thing that is tax exemption for the middle class. Rs 6000 in income support for farmers boils down to Rs 500 per month.” Criticising the government over the budget, Tharoor asked,” Is that supposed to enable them to live with the honour and dignity?”
S Tharoor, Congress: The whole exercise has turned out to be a damn squib. We’ve seen one good thing that is tax exemption for the middle class. Rs 6000 in income support for farmers boils down to Rs 500 per month. Is that supposed to enable them to live with the honour&dignity? pic.twitter.com/0eJHWnuysf
— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2019
Reaching out to a large electorate ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Modi government on Friday announced a cash dole for small farmers, a mega pension scheme for the unorganised sector and doubled the threshold tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh.
Presenting the interim 2019-20 union budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said Rs 6,000 per year cash support will be given to small and marginal farmers that will cost the exchequer Rs 75,000 crore annually, in a bid to provide relief to the distressed farm sector. Unveiling the mega pension yojna for the unorganised sector workers that will benefit 10 crore people, Goyal said they will get assured monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after reaching the age of 60 years.
In a major relief for the middle class, Goyal proposed to double the threshold tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh and increased the standard deduction from the existing Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. Doubling the threshold exemption limit is expected to cost the exchequer Rs 18,500 crore.
Goyal further said an individual having an income of Rs 6.5 lakh per annum will not be required to pay any tax provided he invests in the specified tax saving schemes of the government. The TDS threshold on interest from bank, post office deposits was also raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000. He also announced a hike in the Defence budget to over Rs 3 lakh crore.
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