New Delhi: The Union Budget for FY 2024-25 tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman “copied” ideas from the Congress’s Lok Sabha elections manifesto, the principal opposition party said Tuesday.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi called it a “kursi-bachao” (save the chair) and “copy-and-paste” budget. Ideas copied from the Congress manifesto, party leaders said, include the internship scheme, employment-linked incentives and abolition of angel tax, among others.
“I wish the FM had copied some other ideas from the Congress manifesto,” Congress leader and former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram said, adding that he was “glad to know” Sitharaman read the Congress’s manifesto after the declaration of general election results.
He added, “I am happy she has virtually adopted the Employment-linked incentive (ELI) outlined on page 30 of the Congress manifesto. I am also happy that she has introduced the Apprenticeship scheme along with an allowance to every apprentice spelt out on page 11 of the Congress manifesto. I wish the FM had copied some other ideas in the Congress manifesto. I shall shortly list the missed opportunities.”
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Apprenticeship/internship programme
In its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections which concluded last month, the Congress party had promised to implement a ‘Right to Apprenticeship’ programme — year-long apprenticeship in the private or public sector for every diploma holder or college graduate below the age of 25.
The programme entitled each apprentice to an annual stipend of Rs 1 lakh.
Along similar lines, Sitharaman in her budget speech Tuesday launched a scheme which aims to provide 1 crore youngsters with internship opportunities in the country’s top 500 countries over a period of five years.
Beneficiaries will be eligible for a stipend of Rs 5,000 per month for the 12-month internship, besides a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh, who termed the budget “highly disappointing”, said though Modi government ‘copied’ the ‘Right to Apprenticeship’ promised in the Congress manifesto, its implementation as announced is not how the party envisioned it.
“The Finance Minister has taken a leaf out of the INC’s Nyay Patra 2024, with its internship program clearly modelled on the INC’s proposed Apprenticeship Program that was called Pehli Naukri Pakki. However, in their trademark style, the scheme has been designed to grab headlines, with arbitrary targets (1 crore internships) rather than a programmatic guarantee for all diploma holders and graduates, like the Indian National Congress had envisioned,” he wrote in a post on X.
As part of the Congress manifesto ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the party had promised to bring in a new ‘Right to Apprenticeship Act’.
“Congress guarantees a new Right to Apprenticeship Act to provide a one year apprenticeship with a private or a public sector company to every diploma holder or college graduate below the age of 25. Apprentices will get 1 lakh a year. The apprenticeship will impart skills, enhance employability and provide full-time job opportunities for millions of youth,” read its manifesto.
Ramesh also said that the term ‘employment’ has made a “roaring comeback” in the budget speech. “This is the impact of the Congress’s sustained campaign in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” he wrote in a post on X.
Employment-linked incentive scheme
The Congress had in its Lok Sabha manifesto also promised to introduce a new employment-linked incentive (ELI) scheme that would allow corporates to win tax credits for additional hiring against regular, quality jobs.
In her budget speech, Sitharaman announced the government’s plan to launch three employment-linked incentive schemes. These will be based on EPFO enrolment and will focus on recognition of first-time employees.
The first scheme will include a one-month wage up to Rs 15,000 for those entering the workforce, in three instalments; the second aims to incentivise additional employment in the manufacturing sector; and under the third, employers will be reimbursed up to Rs 3,000 per month for a period of two years towards their EPFO contributions for each additional employee.
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Angel tax
On Sitharaman’s announcement that the government has decided to abolish angel tax, Chidambaram said, “I was pleased to hear that the FM will abolish the angel tax. Congress has pleaded for the abolition for many years and most recently in the Congress manifesto on page 31.”
Page 31 of the Congress manifesto had stated: “We will eliminate ‘angel tax’ and all other exploitative tax schemes that inhibit investment in new micro, small companies and innovative start-ups.”
‘Hollow promises’: Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also lambasted the Modi government for what he termed a “kursi-bachao” and ‘copy and paste’ budget.
“Appease allies: hollow promises to them at the cost of other states. Appease Cronies: Benefits to AA with no relief for the common Indian. Copy and Paste: Congress manifesto and previous budgets,” he wrote on X.
Ramesh, meanwhile, also criticised Sitharaman for making no mention of release of funds for the decadal census originally scheduled for 2021.
“It is highly disappointing that the Finance Minister’s announcement on Data and Statistics makes no mention of releasing funds for the decadal Population Census that was supposed to have taken place in 2021, but has still not been conducted. This is the first time since Independence that the Government has failed to conduct a Census on time. The consequences on the State’s administrative capabilities are serious – one example being the 10-12 crore individuals who have been excluded from the ambit of the National Food Security Act. It also means that the Government will likely continue to avoid a Socio-Economic Caste Census, despite calls from its own NDA partners for the same,” he wrote.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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