Union Budget: 80,000 Secondary Schools to be upgraded

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said the government was committed to providing quality education and planned to upgrade 80,000 secondary schools in the country.

He also said in his budget speech that the government wanted to provide medical facilities in each village and city.

Union Budget Highlights:

Government committed to increasing access of people to the banking system

* Universal social security system for all Indians, especially poor and disadvantaged sections

* Atal Pension Yojna for economically disadvantaged

* PPF and EPF corpus to be utilised for senior citizens’ welfare fund

* Physical aids and assisting devices for physically challenged senior citizens

* Main challenges: increasing agricultural production; increasing investment in infrastructure; with manufacturing declining, Make in India will create jobs; cooperative federalism

* Agriculture credit targetted at Rs.8.5 lakh crore

* Rural jobs scheme to get Rs.34,699 crore; Every poor to get a job

* To work with NITI Aayog for creating a National Agricultural Market

* Need well-targeted system for subsidies.

* Direct transfer of subsidy to LPG consumers

* Appeal to well-off consumers to surrender subsidised LPG connections

* Organic farm schemes of agriculture ministry to be supported

* ‘Per drop More crop’ scheme for better irrigation

* Three achievements – Jan Dhan Yojna, coal auctions, Swachh Bharat

* Two more gamechanging reforms: Goods and Services Tax, JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojna, Aadhar, Mobile number) to ensure transparency

* Our achievement to conquer inflation, CPI inflation at five percent by year-end

* GDP growth at 7.4 percent in 2014-15 and at 8-8.5 percent in 2015-16; double-digit growth feasible

* We are in an economic environment far more positive than in the recent past

* Undertaken several significant steps to energise the Indian economy in last nine months

* India’s chance to fly

* Budget proposals lay down roadmap for economic growth.