Naari Tu Narayani: The 2019 Budget From FM Nirmala Sitharaman

India's First Full Time Woman Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Budget 2019 in the Parliament today. Several reforms would be undertaken to promote rental housing, current rental laws are archaic as they do not address lessor-lessee relationships fairly. The government will examine options of opening up FDI (foreign direct investment) in aviation, media and animation.

Here are the top takeaways from the budget presentation:

Women

• Naari Tu Narayani has been the tradition for the women in the country. There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly with one wing.
• Gender analysis of budget has been in place for a decade, propose to form a broad-based committee to evaluate ways to move forward. There has been a socio-economic transformation in the last 10 years, women's role in distinct.
• A broad-based committee to be formed with government and private stakeholders to focus on women’s issues.
• Encouragement given to women entrepreneurship through various schemes. Proposal to expand the women SHG interest subvention program to all districts in India.
• One woman in every Self Help Group to be made eligible for a loan of Rs 1 lakh.

Rural Areas

• By 2022, every single rural family will have electricity and a clean cooking facility.
• 1.95 crore houses will be provided to the eligible beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Women's dignity was respected with the provision of toilets in homes - @nsitharaman #Budget2019 #BudgetAndHer pic.twitter.com/CvHsy244zM

— SheThePeople (@SheThePeopleTV) July 5, 2019

Encouragement given to women entrepreneurship through various schemes. Proposal to expand the women SHG interest subvention program to all districts in India.

• 1.25 lakh km of roads to be upgraded under PM Gram Sadak Yojana.
• The Jal Jeevan mission for sustainable water supply management across the country. By 2024 every rural household will have potable water.
• 9.6 crores toilets have been constructed since Oct 2, 2014. More than 6 lakh villages now defecation free.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says new series of coins to be introduced shortly #Budget2019 #BudgetAndHer pic.twitter.com/4ZVKWfKaMa

— SheThePeople (@SheThePeopleTV) July 5, 2019

Education System

• The government proposes a National Education Policy to transform and take India's higher education system to global standards.
• Increase in efforts to improve the skills of our youth in newer areas such as Artifical Intelligence, Big Data, Robotics, etc valued highly within and outside the country to ensure they can secure high paying jobs both in India and abroad.

Start ups

• A new channel is proposed to be started to provide a platform for startups to disseminate information in the industry.
• Start-ups are taking firm roots. To resolve angel tax issue start-ups who file declarations will not be subjected to scrutiny in valuation.

Increase in efforts to improve the skills of our youth in newer areas such as Artifical Intelligence, Big Data, Robotics, etc valued highly within and outside the country to ensure they can secure high paying jobs both in India and abroad.

Urban Areas

• Aadhar card for Non-Resident Indians with Indian passports without waiting for the mandatory 180 days.
• Public sector banks to be provided 700 billion rupees of capital.
• New series of coins to be introduced shortly.
• To discourage the practice of making business payments in cash, proposal to levy TDS of 2% on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from a bank account.
• For ease and convenience of taxpayers, proposal to make PAN and Aadhaar interchangeable and allow those who do not have Pan cards to file income tax returns by simply quoting their Aadhaar number.
• No income tax for income less than Rs 5 lakh per year.

Also: Here’s What Women Entrepreneurs Want From The Union Budget