Budget 2018 targets bottom of the Pyramid: Baijayant Panda

ONI Bureau: Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda, who was recently suspended from the BJD, is probably the only intellectual from Odisha to participate in more than 8 TV panel discussions on Budget 2018.

While speaking at CNN News18 Panel discussion yesterday, Jay Panda hails the budget as ‘visionary’ and a right step forward. “It squarely targets the bottom of the pyramid”, he told Bhupendra Chaubey.

Mr. Panda was in full praise for the National Health Protection Scheme (Ayushman Bharat), saying it’s really huge that 50 crore or 40% of India would be benefited from this initiative.

“As somebody who spends two weeks every month in rural India, I can tell you, that if this is implemented even half way, it is going to completely revolutionize the Economy & life of Rural Indians,” he said.

In another debate on India Today TV, which was related to agrarian economy, Baijayant Panda was in the panel comprising of Shobana Kamineni (President, CII), Dharmendra Pradhan (P&NG Minister), Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Rahul Munjal, Dr, Naresh Trehan etc. The MP hailed the LPG Delivery system through Aadhaar linking, which brought the focus on Dharmendra Pradhan, who was appreciated by all in the panel for leading the initiative successfully.

While responding to a query in another panel discussion on Republic TV, Baijayant Panda asked, “can you imagine what 5 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots in rural India does for job creation?” He also appreciated the impact of PM Ujjwala Yojana, saying it has helped empower women of rural India.