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The National Democratic Alliance will cancel all the schemes being implemented by the United Progressive Alliance Govt. leaded by Manmohan Singh, to “appease a particular community”. The BJP has said that if NDA will come into power then it will cancel the minority appeasement schemes implemented by UPA.

BJP president Rajnath Singh told PTI in an interview that “If NDA comes to power at the Centre in the coming Lok Sabha polls, we will cancel all those schemes announced by the UPA government on the basis of religion to appease a certain section”.

According to BJP the welfare schemes announced by the UPA Govt. to provide benefit to a particular community is dangerous for the country and NDA will revert all the schemes if they came to power.

“We will not give scholarship to somebody on the basis of whether he is Muslim or Christian. Our welfare measures will be based on economic condition of the people,” Rajnath Singh said, strongly criticizing certain schemes in this year’s union budget.

Though there is one thing that BJP president is confident that NDA will come back to powers and will make the next Govt.

Tags: Centre, India, NDA, Union Budget, UPA

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented his fifth Budget for 2008-09 in Parliament on Friday. Several new changes are made and many new schemes are announced.

Highlights of budget are as follows:

• income tax slab: 30% for 5 lakhs
• income tax slab: 20% for 3-5 lakhs
• income tax slab: 10% for 1.5-3 lakhs
• exemption limit up to Rs 2,25,000 for senior citizens
• exemption limit up to Rs 1,80,000 for women
• threshold for exemption of Rs 1,50,000 for all
• excise duty reduced to 10% from 24% on hybrid cars
• tax holiday for hospitals and heritage hotels
• reduction of Central sale from 3% to 2%
• no change in corporate tax
• short term capital gains increase from 105 to 15%
• four new services in service tax
• excise duty reduced on buses
• all cigarettes will be costlier now
• excise duty reduced on small cars and two- wheelers
• excise duty rate from 14-16%
• no custom duty on naphtha in agriculture
• no duty on helicopter simulators
• no excise duty on life saving drugs, custom duty reduced
• custom duty reduced on project import
• no change in peak rates of custom duty
• moderate tax necessary for development of country
• Special attention to health, agriculture and education plans.
• Rs 644 crore for National Agriculture Insurance Scheme, which will be continued pending evolving an alternative crop insurance scheme.
• Rs. 624 crore for commonwealth games
• Rs. 50 crore to save shares
• Rescue budget incremented to Rs. 1,05,600 crore
• 10% increment in rescue budget
• PAN card necessary for all bank transactions
• smart card use in PDS
• Rs. 44 crore for Sainik schools
• Rs. 12,966 crore for national highways
• Approval to 30 integrated textile parks
• National fund for electric transmission and distribution
• Rs. 70 crore investment for varansi Shivsagar handloom
• Rs. 1680 crore for IT development in rural areas
• Broadband Centre scheme in rural areas
• Attention to Road construction in North East region
• Rs. 5500 crore for Rajiv Gandhi electrification plan
• Rs 50 crore for National Tiger Conservation Programme to protect tiger
• Rs. 50,000 crore sanctioned for farmers, 4 crore farmers will be benefited
• Farmers’ debt to be waived
• Settlement of loans of farmer by 30 June 2008
• 25% loan relaxed
• Refrigerator, TV, AC, washing machines will be cheaper
• Rs1042 crore to fight polio in UP and Bihar
• Rs 6300 crore for ICDM
• Job guarantee plans in 498 districts
• Policy of Rs. 30,000 for workers in unorganized sector
• IISE in Bhopal and Tiruvantpuram
• 16 new central universities planned
• 3 new IITs to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan
• Mid-day meal scheme in all blocks of country
• Rs. 1 lakh scholarship for 8th and 12th students
• Rs. 13,100 crore sanctioned for education
• Allocation for Bharat Nirman to be raised to Rs 31,280 crore.
• 20% hike in education budget this year from Rs 28,674 crore to Rs 34,400 crore.
• 410 additional Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya to be set up in backward blocks.
• Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened in 20 districts with special focus on regions having SC/ST concentration.
• 9% progress possible for 11th five year plan
• GDP growth slows down to 8.4% during quarter ended December 31, 2007 as compared to last year’s 9.1 %.
• Rs 75 crore sanctioned for Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Programme for SC/ST students pursuing M.Phil.

Tags: India, Union Budget, Union of India