Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament on July 31, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Replying to the debate on the Union Budget in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday where more than 80 elders participated, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the transfer of resources to the States is going unhindered and the inferences that she mentioned just two States in the budget was a propaganda created by the INDIA bloc to mislead the people.
Comparing the allocation to various social sectors and the devolution of taxes to the States under the UPA and NDA regimes, she said the Narendra Modi-led government implemented the concept of cooperative federalism by giving due share to all States.
Countering the allegation that the Budget mentions just two States, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, Ms. Sitharaman said the Opposition created a propaganda to mislead people. “The Budget is for all States,” she said adding that the practice of mentioning the names of all States was not there during the UPA regime too. “If a State has not been mentioned in the speech, it does not mean there is no allocation for it,” she said.
She said it was wrong to calculate devolution based on gross tax receipts, and then allege that the Centre is devolving less than what is suggested by the Finance Commission. “I would like to underline our unflinching commitment to cooperative federalism. The total resources proposed to be transferred to the States in 2024-25 are estimated at ₹22.91 lakh crore. This actually entails an increase of ₹2.49 lakh crore over 2023-24,” she said.
Ms. Sitharaman said the capital expenditure too increased manifold during the last 10 years. The capital expenditure, she said, is estimated at ₹11.11 lakh crore. “This is the biggest ever allocation for capital expenditure and it shows increase of about 17% over the revised estimates and provisional actuals of 2023-24,” she said and added that during the 10 years of the UPA, it was ₹13.19 lakh crore. “Whereas during our tenure from 2014 to 2024, the allocation for capex has been ₹43.82 lakh crore from 2014-15 to 2023-24,” she said.
Replying to the discussion on the Budget of Jammu and Kashmir, she said the financial condition of the Union Territory has improved in the last two years. Earlier practices of running ‘hundis’ and overdrafts from J&K Bank have been discontinued and the day-to-day cash management is much healthier than the past, she said. “During the last four years, J&K Bank has made a remarkable turnaround. From a loss of ₹ 1,139 crore in 2019-20, the bank had a profit of ₹1,700 crore in the year 2023-24,” she added.
On the conduct of NEET medical entrance tests, she said the entrance examination has ensured cost-effective medical education for families. “Certainly, it has hurt some vested interests, particularly those in the medical education field because no longer selling medical seats is possible. Therefore, it has hurt a lot of people. That is why a particular lobby was actively against NEET even before this NEET leak issue has come up,” she said.
On the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, the Minister said the scheme will ensure that India has younger soldiers who are on the frontline. “One of the expected outcome of the scheme is that armed forces will have a much younger force by recruiting those in the age group of 17.5-21 years,” she said. “And I don’t think there is a need for us to unnecessarily worry that this is causing some kind of distortion. Not at all. It is with the acceptance of the armed forces that it has been brought in,” Ms. Sitharaman added.
