First india lucknow edition-02 february 2021

First India Bureau
Lucknow: Hailing the un-
ion budget 2021-22 as ‘devel-
opment oriented’ and hav-
ing something for everyone,
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adi-
tyanath on Monday said that
it was a major step towards
‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat.’
“I am sure it will give a
massive push to the econo-
my and make India a global
economic power,” he said
adding that the Centre had
taken care to ensure that the
budget benefits all sections
of society in the country, in-
cluding farmers, poor sec-
tions, women and senior
citizens.
The CM expressed grati-
tude to Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi and congratu-
lated union finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman for
presenting the budget in the
Lok Sabha. He said the budg-
et has taken into account the
aspirations of 135 million
people. Turn to P7
Budget will push India as global economic power:CM
UNION BUDGET 2021
CM expressed
gratitude to Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and congratulated
Union Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman
BUDGET FOR
ANNADATA
“For the farmers, 1,000
mandis have been made
e-mandis and this will
guarantee better or at least
1.5 times the price of produce
to the farmers. Budget has a
lot on offer for the farmers.”
CM Yogi intriguingly watches the budget session in his office at Lok Bhawan in Lucknow on Monday.
LUCKNOW l TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 80
resenting the
Union Budget
2021 on Mon-
day, Finance
Minister Nir-
mala Sithara-
manannouncedanewcen-
trally sponsored scheme –
PM Aatmanirbhar
Swasthya Bharat Yoja-
na – with an outlay of
Rs 64,180 crore over
six years. She said
the scheme will
develop capaci-
ties of primary
,
secondary
, and
tertiary care
health sys-
tems, strength-
en existing in-
stitutions and
create new insti-
tutions to cater to
the detection and
cure of new emerging
diseases. New scheme will
be an addition to the Na-
tional Health Mission, she
said.
Overall, Sitharaman
proposed Rs 2,23,846 crore
Budget outlay for health
and well being for 2021-22,
compared to Rs 94,452
crore in the current fiscal,
an increase of 137 per
cent. She also said that the
government would pro-
vide Rs 35,000 crore for the
Covid-19 vaccination pro-
gram in 2021-22 and is
committed to providing
more funds if needed.
Emphasising the impor-
tance of the healthcare
system in the post-Covid
world, Turn to P7
P
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds a tablet containing Union
Budget 2021-22, during the Budget Session and is accompanied by
MoS Finance Anurag Thakur on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Top
TWEETS
Narendra Modi
@Narendramodi
#Aatmanirbhar
BharatKaBudget is a
budget of opportunities,
which will further
growth in a wide range
of sectors. This is a
Budget that will further
‘Ease of Living’ and
bring many positive
changes for individuals,
investors, industry and
infrastructure.
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
Our sensitive PM
@narendramodi
has announced Rs
35,000 crore fund for
vaccination against
coronavirus. This shows
Modi’s resolve to make
India coronavirus free.
I thank Modiji for this.
Budget 2021-22 will
pave the way for a self-
reliant India.
Rahul Gandhi
@rahulgandhi
#Budget2021 must:
Support MSMEs,
farmers and workers to
generate employment.
Increase Healthcare
expenditure to save
lives. Increase Defence
expenditure to safeguard
borders. Forget putting
cash in the hands of
people, Modi Govt plans
to handover India’s
assets to his crony
capitalist friends.
Ashok Gehlot
@ashokgehlot51
If in the past, instead
of opposing FDI for
political reasons, BJP
would have supported
the UPA in the interest
of the country, then the
country would have
progressed further in
this direction
B
U
D
G
E
T
V
A
C
C
I
N
E
2
0
2
1
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD
& LUCKNOW
www.firstindia.co.in
www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/
twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia
instagram.com/thefirstindia
2021-22
UNION
BUDGET
Budget will enhance India’s self-confidence: PM Modi
MAJOR TAKEAWAYS
ATMANIRBHAR
PILL FOR ALL
FDI hike in
insurance to 74 per
cent from 49 per
cent with foreign
control under
safeguards. The
Finance Minister
has set a target of
`16.5 lakh crore as
agricultural credit.
It was the shortest
speech by FM, who
had delivered the
longest speech
last year. Her first
Budget speech
in 2019 was for
around 137 minutes
and in 2020, it was
for 160 minutes.
FM read out her
110-minute speech
from a tablet and
with this for the first
time, the Budget
went paperless
and members were
provided soft copies
of the speech and
documents.
2021 is the year of many
important milestones for India.
It is 75th year of Independence;
60 years of Goa’s accession
to India; 50 years of 1971
Indo-Pak War; 8th Census
of Independent India; India’s
turn at BRICS Presidency;
Chandrayaan-3 Mission &
Haridwar Maha Kumbh.
Senior citizens above 75, having
pension and interest income
exempted from filing tax returns
Capital infusion of Rs 1,000 crore
to Solar Energy Corporation of
India and Rs 1,500 crore to Indian
Renewable Energy Development
Agency
HEALTH
PENSION
EDUCATION
BUSINESS
WOMAN
& CHILD
DEFENCE
Honourable Prime
Minister launched the
vaccination drive by
crediting and thanking
our scientists. We are ever
grateful for the strength
and rigour of their efforts
Nirmala Sitharaman,
Finance Minister
outlay for Health and Wellbeing in
Budget Estimates (BE) 2021-22 as
against Rs 94,452 crore in
BE 2020-21 - an increase of 137%
Health & Wellbeing; Physical & Financial
Capital, & Infrastructure; Inclusive
Development for Aspirational India;
Reinvigorating Human Capital; Innovation
and R&D; Min Govt & Max Governance
highest ever outlay, for Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways
`2,23,846 CR
6 PILLARS
`1,18,101 L CR
Concept:
Vinod
Kumar
Sharma
Imagination:
Uttam
Kumar
Sain
BUDGET DECODED P2-6
Mumbai: The Indian markets recorded their
sharpest-ever Budget rally (in absolute terms)
on Monday, ending the session 5% up, as
investors cheered the Budget presented by FM
Nirmala Sithara-
man in the Parlia-
ment on Monday.
The FM announced
capital expenditure
of Rs 5.54 trillion
for FY22 as against
Rs 4.39 trillion
for FY21. Further, she announced the FY22
disinvestment target at Rs 1.75 trillion while the
FY21 fiscal deficit was pegged at 9.5 per cent
of GDP. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty
soared 646.60 points or 4.74 per cent to finish
at 14,281.20. The optimism despite higher
borrowing and a wider fiscal deficit, analysts
say, was on account of the positive measures to
revive the Covid-19 hit economy. Turn to P7
DALAL STREET
CHEERS UNION BUDGET
Sensex closes @ 2314, highest
in 24 year on budget day

https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/
Union Budget
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia LUCKNOW | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2021
UNION BUDGET
2021-22
UJJWALA SCHEME EXTENDED TO
COVER 1 CRORE MORE BENEFICIARIES
`2,217 CR TO TACKLE AIR POLLUTION, FOR 42
URBAN CENTERS WITH A MILLION-PLUS POPULATION
AGRICULTURE/INFRA
This Budget has set
the highest ever
capital expenditure
target in the history
of Independent
India by underling
funds for capex
worth Rs 5.54 lakh
crore. This capex
push will set the
ball rolling for
making India a
five trillion dollar
economy.
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
The current
National
Apprenticeship
Training Scheme
will be realigned for
providing post-
education
apprenticeship,
training of
graduates and
diploma holders in
engineering. Over
3,000 crores to be
allotted for this.
Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal
Nishank
@DrRPNishank
Building robust
health care infra to
address present &
future challenges.
Interventions under
PM #Aatmanirbhar
Swasth Bharat
Yojana include
establishing critical
care hospital blocks,
integrated public
health labs in all
districts &
strengthening
HWCs.
Dr Harsh Vardhan
@drharshvardhan
Voluntary vehicle scrapping policy announced

Policy announced
to phase out old
and unfit vehicles
under which the
personal vehicles
will undergo a
fitness test in
automated
centres after 20
years while the
commercial
vehicles will
undergo the test
after 15 years.
New Delhi: Union Fi-
nance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on Monday an-
nounced a voluntary vehi-
cle scrapping policy to
phase out old and unfit ve-
hicles under which the per-
sonal vehicles will undergo
a fitness test in automated
centres after 20 years while
the commercial vehicles
will undergo the test after
15 years.
“We are separately an-
nouncing a voluntary vehi-
cle scrapping policy to
phase out old and unfit ve-
hicles. This will help in en-
couraging fuel-efficient,
environment-friendly vehi-
cles. Thereby, reducing ve-
hicular pollution and oil
import bill,” said Sithara-
man in the Parliament
while presenting the Union
Budget 2021-22. “Vehicle
should undergo a fitness
test in automated fitness
centres after 20 years in
case of personal vehicles
and after 15 years in case of
commercial vehicles,” she
added. In Part A of Budget
2021, the Union Finance
Minister laid out a vision
for Atmanirbhar Bharat to
strengthen the vision of
Nation First, doubling
farmers’ income, strong in-
fra, women’s empower-
ment, healthy India, good
governance, education for
all, inclusive development.
The Union Budget 2021-
22 proposals rest on six pil-
lars: Health and well-being,
physical and financial cap-
ital and infrastructure, in-
clusive development for
aspirational India reinvig-
orating human capital in-
novation and R&D mini-
mum government, maxi-
mum governance. —ANI
Rural infra devp fund
increased to `40k cr
PROVISION
`15,700 cr
provided for
MSME sector
New Delhi: Union Fi-
Sitharaman has made a
provision of 15,700
crore for the Ministry of
Micro, Small and Medi-
um Enterprises (MSME)
sector in the Union
Budget 2021-22.
“We have taken a
number of steps to sup-
port the MSME sector in
this budget. I have pro-
vided 15,700 crore more
than double the previous
year,” said Ms Sithara-
man while presenting
the Union Budget in the
Parliament.
“Financial Inclusion:
To further facilitate
credit flow under the
scheme of Stand Up In-
dia for the Scheduled
Caste and Scheduled
Tribes and also women,
I propose to reduce the
margin money require-
ment from 25 per cent 15
per cent only and to also
include loans for activi-
ties in allied activities in
agriculture,” the Fi-
nance Minister added.
The Union Budget
2021-22 proposals rest on
six pillars: Health and
well-being, physical and
financial capital and in-
frastructure, inclusive
development for aspira-
tional India reinvigorat-
ing human capital, inno-
vation and R&D, mini-
mum government and
maximum governance.
While presenting the
Budget, Sitharaman
said, only three times
has the Budget followed
a contraction in the
economy this time, un-
like before, the situation
is due to a global pan-
demic Budget-2021 pro-
vides every opportunity
for the economy to cap-
ture the pace and grow
sustainably
.
Amid crisis, agriculture credit
target up to `16.5 lakh crore
mid the ongoing
farm crisis with
protests against
the farm laws con-
tinuing for
months, Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman said
in her Budget 2021 speech
that the government is in-
creasing the agriculture
credit target to Rs 16.5
lakh crore.
“Our government is
committed to the welfare
of farmers. The MSP re-
gime has undergone a
change to assure price that
is at least 1.5 times the cost
of production across all
commodities,” said Sithar-
aman, in assurance to the
farm sector.
Sitharaman further add-
ed, “Procurement has also
continued to increase at a
steady pace. This has re-
sulted in increase in pay-
ment to farmers substan-
tially
. In case of wheat, the
total payment made to
farmers in 2013-14 was Rs
Rs 33,874 crore. In 2019-20 it
was Rs 62,802 crore and in
2020-21, it was Rs 75,060
crore.” “Cotton farmers
saw stupendous increase in
the amount that was paid to
them in 2013-14, that was Rs
90 crore and it was in-
creased to over Rs 25,000
crore in 2020-21,” said Si-
tharaman.
In her budget speech for
the next fiscal, she said the
procurement of crops like
paddy, wheat, pulses and
cotton has jumped mani-
fold in the last six years.
Nirmala Sitharaman said a
total of 43.36 lakh farmers
have benefited from these
payments.
In Budget 2021, Sithara-
man also proposed to in-
crease agriculture credit
target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore.
Sitharaman also an-
nounced an Agricultural
Infrastructure and Devel-
opment Cess (AIDC) to con-
serve agricultural output
and improve infrastruc-
ture. “There is an immedi-
ate need to improve agri-
cultural infrastructure so
that we produce more,
while also conserving and
processing agricultural
output efficiently
. This will
ensure enhanced remuner-
ation for our farmers. To
earmark resources for this
purpose, I propose an Agri-
culture Infrastructure and
Development Cess (AIDC)
on a small number of
items. However, while ap-
plying this cess, we have
taken care not to put addi-
tional burden on consum-
ers on most items,” Sithar-
aman said.
FM announced agricultural infrastructure & development cess to conserve agri output & boost infra
WELFARE OF FARMERS
A
BUDGET DECODED
Budget for 2021-22 imposed a Rs 2.5 per litre agri infra cess on petrol, Rs 4 on diesel. —PHOTO BY PTI
The Finance Minister
also announced an en-
hanced allocation to the
Rural Infrastructure Devel-
opment Fund from Rs
30,000 crore to Rs 40,000
crore. She further proposed
to double Micro Irrigation
Fund, started with a corpus
of Rs 5,000 crore under (Na-
tional Bank for Agricul-
ture and Rural Develop-
ment) NABARD, by aug-
menting it by another Rs
5,000 crore.
In order to boost value
addition in agriculture and
allied products and their
exports, Sitharaman also
proposed to increase the
scope of ‘Operation Green
Scheme’ that is presently
applicable to tomatoes, on-
ions, and potatoes (TOPS),
to be enlarged to include 22
perishable products.
On seaweed farming, she
said: “Seaweed farming is
an emerging sector with
the potential to transform
the lives of coastal commu-
nities. It will provide large-
scale employment and ad-
ditional incomes. To pro-
mote seaweed cultivation, I
propose a mltipurpose Sea-
weed Park to be established
in Tamil Nadu.” —ANI
HIGHLIGHTS
 Finance Minister said,
procurement has also
continued to increase
at steady pace. This has
resulted increase in
payment to farmers
substantially
 FM said, there is an im-
mediate need to improve
agricultural infrastructure
so that we produce more,
while also conserving and
processing agricultural
output efficiently
 FM proposed to increase
the scope of ‘Operation Green
Scheme’ that is presently ap-
plicable to tomatoes, onions,
and potatoes (TOPS), to be
enlarged to include 22 perish-
able products.
 We are separately an-
nouncing a voluntary vehicle
scrapping policy to phase out
old and unfit vehicles. This
will help in encouraging fuel-
efficient, environment-friendly
vehicles.
`2,23,846 crore
OUTLAY FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING IN BUDGET
ESTIMATES (BE) 2021-22 AS AGAINST RS 94,452
CRORE IN BE 2020-21 - AN INCREASE OF 137%
`35,000 crore
FOR COVID-19 VACCINE IN BUDGET ESTIMATES
2021-22. RS. 2,87,000 CRORE OVER 5 YEARS FOR JAL
JEEVAN MISSION (URBAN) TO BE LAUNCHED.

Union Budget
03
UNION BUDGET
2021-22
GOVT TO BRING IPO OF LIC, REQUISITE
AMENDMENTS BEING MADE
TO FURTHER CONSOLIDATE FINANCIAL CAPACITY OF
PSBS, FURTHER RECAPITALIZATION OF `20,000 CR
POWER/HIGHWAYS
Great #Budget2021
announcements, @
nsitharaman Ji,
especially on
healthcare and
vaccines; this is the
best investment any
country can make.
A healthier India is
a more productive
India.
Adar Poonawalla
@adarpoonawalla
In a time of
unprecedented
economic stress, the
Govt’s responsibility
was to spend enough
to revive the
economy or else face
enormous human
suffering. So I had
one expectation from
this budget: that we
should be very
liberal in terms of
the targeted fiscal
deficit. Box ticked.
Anand Mahindra
@anandmahindra
Investors are driving
markets up like
#GameStop after
#Budget2021 turns
out to be like the
#Reddit forum that’s
putting power in
hands of masses. A
budget that focuses
on healthcare,
vaccination and
infrastructure- truly
democratising
growth! Except this
budget isn’t a
bubble!
Harsh Goenka
@hvgoenka
Highwaytodevelopment:`1.18Lcrinfraboost

Allocating
an enhanced
outlay of `1.18
lakh cr for
highways for
2021-22, FM
said execution
of flagship
highways
corridors as
well as projects
are bound to
speed up
Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman,
presenting the Union
Budget 2021-22, pledged
that the Centre will award
national highway pro-
jects to the tune of 8,500
km by March 2022 and
complete an additional
11,000 km of National
Highway Corridor. To
this end, Sitharaman an-
nounced projects in Ta-
mil Nadu, Kerala, West
Bengal and Assam.
The Minister said that
this will be in addition to
over 13,000 km roadwork
awarded under the Cen-
trally sponsored Bharat-
mala Pariyojana project,
of which 3,800 km had al-
ready been constructed.
More economic corridors
are being planned to boost
infrastructure, she said.
In Tamil Nadu, 3,500 km
of national highway works
have been proposed at an
investment of 1.03 lakh
crore, including the con-
struction of the Madurai-
Kollam economic corridor.
In Kerala, 1,100 km of na-
tional highways have been
proposed at an investment
of 65,000 crore. This in-
cludes the 600 km-section
of the Mumbai-Kanyaku-
mari corridor.
In poll-bound West Ben-
gal, 25,000 crore has been
set aside for 675 km high-
way works, including the
re-development of Kolka-
ta-Siliguri highway. In
Assam, Ms. Sitharaman
announced that 1,300 km-
sof national highway will
be built in the coming
three years.
She added that an en-
hanced outlay of 1,18,101
crore had been set aside for
ports and highways.
The Delhi-Dehradun
Economic Corridor work
will be initiated in the cur-
rent financial year, while
the Kanpur-Lucknow Ex-
pressway work will be initi-
ated in 2021-22. —PTI
`1,000 cr proposed for
welfare of tea workers
in poll bound Assam,WB
FOR BABUS
Over `257
cr to train
bureaucrats
in India and
abroad
New Delhi: Over Rs 257
crore has been allocated
to the Personnel Minis-
try for the next financial
year for domestic and
foreign training of bu-
reaucrats and augment-
ing necessary infrastruc-
ture, according to the
Budget 2021-22 presented
by Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman.
Of the total allocation
of Rs 257.35 crore for
2021-22, Rs 178.32 crore
has been earmarked for
upgradation of the Lal
Bahadur Shastri Na-
tional Academy of Ad-
ministration (LBSNAA)
in Mussoorie to a centre
of excellence, augmen-
tation of training facili-
ties at the Delhi-based
Institute of Secretariat
Training and Manage-
ment (ISTM), and the
National Programme
for Civil Services & Ca-
pacity Building -- Mis-
sion Karmayogi, among
others.
The LBSNAA and the
ISTM conduct several
training programmes
for Indian Administra-
tive Service (IAS) offic-
ers and all other levels
of secretarial function-
aries with exposure to
rules, regulations and
aptitude.
The Union Cabinet
had in September last
year given nod to the
Mission Karmayogi,
dubbed as the biggest bu-
reaucratic reform initia-
tive, aimed at capacity
building to make gov-
ernment employees
more “creative, proac-
tive, professional & tech-
nology-enabled”. —PTI
GOVT PROPOSES `3.05 TRN
SCHEME TO POWER ECONOMY
inance Minister
Nirmala Sithara-
man on Monday
proposed a Rs 3.05
trillion scheme
spread over five years to
revivediscomsandaframe-
work to provide electricity
consumersoptiontochoose
from service providers.
These two announce-
ments are aimed at ensur-
ing 24X7 Power for All as
envisaged by the central
government.
Last year, the govern-
ment had enforced consum-
ers rules for the power sec-
tor to ensure delivery of
services.
But loss-making and
cash-strapped discoms -
which are mostly owned
and run by state - are una-
ble to buy sufficient power
from generation firms to
provide round the clock
supply. Total outstanding
dues of the discoms to-
wards power generating
firms stood at over Rs 1.35
trillion as of December
2020.
In her budget speech in
the Lok Sabha, Sithara-
man said, “The viability of
Distribution Companies is
a serious concern. A re-
vamped reforms-based re-
sult-linked power distribu-
tion sector scheme will be
launched with an outlay of
Rs 3,05,984 crores over 5
years”.
The minister said the
scheme will provide assis-
tance to discoms for infra-
structure creation, includ-
ing pre-paid smart meter-
ing and feeder separation,
up-gradation of systems,
etc., tied to financial im-
provements. The Centre in
November 2015 introduced
the UDAY (Ujjwal DISCOM
Assurance Yojana) scheme
for the revival of the debt-
laden discoms.
Under the scheme, dis-
coms were envisaged to
turn around financially
within three years from
signing agreements under
it. In September 2019, Pow-
er Minister R K Singh had
said that the Ministry of
Power was working on
UDAY 2.0 scheme.
There were expectations
that the scheme would be
announced in the General
Budget for 2020-21. But, no
such schemes were an-
nounced.
Though, Sitharaman
had last year in her budget
speech said, “distribution
sector, particularly the DIS-
COMS, was under financial
stress. Further measures to
reform DISCOMs would be
taken”. —PTI
Govt working to give electricity consumers a chance to choose their discoms or service providers
REVIVING DISCOMS
F
BUDGET DECODED
Confederation of Indian Industry members viewing Live Union Budget, in Chennai on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: The govern-
ment on Monday proposed
to provide Rs 1,000 crore for
the welfare of tea workers
in two poll-bound states -
Assam and West Bengal.
The government on Mon-
day proposed to provide Rs
1,000 crore for the welfare
of tea workers in two poll-
bound states - Assam and
West Bengal.
In the first paperless
Union Budget, Finance
Minister Nirmala Sithar-
aman said that a special
scheme will be devised for
the same.
“I propose to provide Rs
1,000 crores for the wel-
fare of tea workers espe-
cially women and their
children in Assam and
West Bengal,” she said
while presenting the Un-
ion Budget 2021-22. West
Bengal and Assam are the
two big tea producing
states in the country. —ANI
HIGHLIGHTS
 The Operationalisation
of 17 new Public Health
Units and strengthening of
33 existing Public Health
Units at Points of Entry,
that is at 32 Airports,
11 Seaports and 7 land
crossings.
 Setting up of a national
institution for One Health,
a Regional Research Plat-
form for WHO South East
Asia Region, 9 Bio-Safety
Level III laboratories and
4 regional National Insti-
tutes for Virology.
 Union Budget proposes
putting in place a frame-
work allowing a choice
of electricity supplier to
consumers. The current
session of Parliament
will consider the Electric-
ity (Amendment) Bill,
2021, that has proposed
amendments including
measures such as “de-
licensing” of the power
distribution business to
bring competition.
`15,700 crore
BUDGET ALLOCATION TO MSME SECTOR, MORE THAN
DOUBLE OF THIS YEAR’S BUSINESS ESTIMATE
`3,05,984 crore
OVER 5 YEARS FOR A REVAMPED, REFORMS-BASED
AND RESULT-LINKED NEW POWER DISTRIBUTION
SECTOR SCHEME
Workers on contract for Indian Railways, erect infrastructure for drawing electric cable lines over railway tracks
for use by locomotives in Ajmer on Monday. —PHOTO BY HIMANSHU SHARMA

Union Budget
04
UNION BUDGET
2021-22
`1,000 CR FOR WELFARE SCHEME FOR TEA
WORKERS OF ASSAM & WEST BENGAL.
NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE PIPELINE
EXPANDED TO 7,400 PROJECTS.
EDU/WOMEN&CHILD
The economy
of India is
recovering
rapidly by
fighting a
successful battle
with the Corona
pandemic.The
economy is
further
progressing
through this
Budget2021
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Government
slashed allocation
for agriculture by
6 per cent in the
budget, cut PM
Kisan Samman
budget by 13 per
cent, and reduced
budget for
Market
Intervention
Scheme by
25 per cent
Randeep Singh
Surjewala
@rssurjewala
This Budget is
“Gazette of
Glorious Journey
of Aatmanirbhar
Bharat”..
#UnionBudget
#Budget2021
#Aatmanirbhar
Bharat Ka
Budget @
PMOIndia @
nsithar.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
@naqvimukhtar
`24,435 cr to make women & girls saksham

The highest
amount has
been allocated
to new schemes
like Saksham
Anganwadi and
Mission Poshan
2.0. The Beti
Bachao Beti
Padhao scheme
hasn’t been
allocated
anything
New Delhi: A sum of Rs
24,435 crore has been set
aside for the Women and
Child Development (WCD)
Ministry for the next fiscal
in the Budget announced
on Monday, a 16.31 per cent
increase over the 2020-21
financial year.
Out of Rs 24,435 crore,
the highest amount has
been allocated to the newly
announced Saksham An-
ganwadi and Mission
Poshan 2.0 scheme with Rs
20,105 crore.
Poshan 2.0 scheme in an
umbrella scheme covering
the Integrated Child Devel-
opment Services (ICDS),
Anganwadi Services,
Poshan Abhiyaan, Scheme
For Adolescent Girls and
the National Creche
Scheme.
The amount set aside for
the Women and Child De-
velopment (WCD) Ministry
is 16 per cent higher over
the 2020-21 financial year.
In 2020-21, Rs 30,007.09
crore was allocated which
was revised to Rs 21,008.31
crore.
The total amount for the
social services sector,
which includes nutrition
and social security and wel-
fare, has been increased
from Rs 2,411.80 crore in
2020-21 to Rs 3,575.96 crore
in 2021-22.
The schemes like Beti
Bachao Beti Padhao, One
Stop Centres, Swadhar
Greh, Child Protection,
Pradhan Mantri Matru
Vandana Yojana, Scheme
for Adolescent Girls
Scheme and Ujjawala have
not been allocated any-
thing in this budget.
The budget for Mission
for Protection and Empow-
erment of Women has been
drastically reduced from
Rs 726 crore to Rs 48 crore.
In social Services, Rs
783.82 crore was allocated
while in the previous fiscal,
an amount of Rs 695 crore
was allocated. —PTI
Unmanned Gaganyaan
launch in Dec: FM
RAGASPEAKS
Govt handing
India’s assets
to crony
capitalists
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
hit out at the Centre on
Monday following the
presentation of the
2021-22 Union Budget,
alleging that the Naren-
dra Modi government
plans to handover In-
dia’s assets to crony
capitalists.
The government on
Monday budgeted .75
lakh crore from stake
sale in public sector
companies and finan-
cial institutions, in-
cluding two PSU banks
and an insurance com-
pany, in the next fiscal.
“Forget putting cash
in the hands of people,
Modi governme nt
plans to handover In-
dia’s assets to his crony
capitalist friends,” he
said after the presenta-
tion of the Union Budg-
et. Prior to the presen-
tation of the budget, he
said it should provide
support to small and
medium enterprises,
farmers and workers,
and generate employ-
ment.
Gandhi also demand-
ed an increase in
healthcare budget and
hike in defence expend-
iture to safeguard the
country’s borders.
“Budget 2021 must: Sup-
port MSMEs, farmers
and workers to gener-
ate employment.
Increase healthcare
expenditure to save
lives. Increase defence
expenditure to safe-
guard borders,” he said
on Twitter. —PTI
`93,224-creduboost,however,
6.1%lowerallocationthisyear
etting up a Central
university in Leh,
100 new Sainik
schools and High-
er Education Com-
mission of India, increas-
ing collaboration with for-
eign institutions as well as
strengthening over 15,000
schools as per new NEP,
are among the major an-
nouncements from the ed-
ucation sector in the Budg-
et for 2021-22 announced
on Monday. The Ministry
of Education has received
a total of 93,224.31 crore
this year. In 2020-21, it was
allocated Rs 99,311.52
crore.
“For accessible higher
education in Ladakh, I pro-
pose to set up a Central Uni-
versity in Leh,” Union Fi-
Sitharaman said in her
budget speech.
She said, “More than
15,000 schools will be quali-
tatively strengthened to
include all components of
the National Education
Policy. They shall emerge
as exemplar schools in
their regions, handholding
and mentoring other
schools to achieve the ide-
als of the Policy. 100 new
Sainik Schools will be set
up in partnership with
NGOs, private schools and
states. “In Budget 2019-20,
I had mentioned about the
setting-up of Higher Edu-
cation Commission of In-
dia. We would be introduc-
ing legislation this year to
implement the same. It will
be an umbrella body hav-
ing 4 separate vehicles for
standard-setting, accredi-
tation, regulation, and
funding.” In the Budget,
the blanket exemption in
annual receipts for charita-
ble trusts running educa-
tional institutions, has
been increased from Rs 1
crore to 5 crore.
In order to promote en-
hanced academic collabora-
tion with foreign higher ed-
ucational institutions, the
budget has proposed to put
inplacearegulatorymecha-
nism to permit dual de-
grees, joint degrees, twin-
ning arrangements and
othersuchmechanisms.For
children with hearing im-
pairments, the government
has proposed to work on
standardization of Indian
Sign language across the
countryanddevelopnation-
al and state curriculum ma-
terials for use by them. Si-
tharaman announced that
the CBSE board exam re-
forms will be implemented
academic session in a
phased manner. —ANI
Budget: Cental varsity in Leh, strengthening over 15K schools as per new NEP announced
PADHEGA INDIA
S
New Delhi: India’s un-
manned space flight will
take place in December this
year, Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman said
today during her annual
budget speech. This mis-
sion will be the first of two
to be undertaken before the
Indian Space Research Or-
ganisation launches its hu-
man spaceflight under the
“Gaganyaan” umbrella. It
was initially planned for
December 2020 but post-
poned due to the Covid-19
pandemic.
“Four Indian astronauts
are being trained in Russia.
The first unmanned
launch, the precursor to a
manned mission, is sched-
uled by December 2021,”
Ms Sitharaman told
Parliament today
.
The Gaganyaan mission
was announced by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
during the 2018 Independ-
ence Day address to the na-
tion. It aims to send a three-
member crew to space for a
period of five to seven days
by 2022 when India com-
pletes 75 years of Independ-
ence. —ANI
BUDGET DECODED
Shiromani Akali Dal leaders Sukhbir Singh Badal & Harsimrat Kaur Badal hold placards as they stage a protest
against the farm laws, during the Budget Session, in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
HIGHLIGHTS
 Out of Rs 24,435 crore,
the highest amount has
been allocated to the
newly announced Saksham
Anganwadi and Mission
Poshan 2.0 scheme with
Rs 20,105 crore.
 Poshan 2.0 scheme in an
umbrella scheme covering
the Integrated Child Devel-
opment Services (ICDS),
Anganwadi Services,
Poshan Abhiyaan, Scheme
For Adolescent Girls
and the National Creche
Scheme.
 The schemes like Beti
Bachao Beti Padhao, One
Stop Centres, Swadhar
Greh, Child Protection,
Pradhan Mantri Matru Van-
dana Yojana, Scheme for
Adolescent Girls Scheme
and Ujjawala have not been
allocated anything in this
budget. The budget of min-
istry’s autonomous bodies
has been increased.
`1.97 LAKH CRORE
THE GOVERNMENT AIMS TO SPEND RS 1.97 LAKH
CRORE ON VARIOUS PLI SCHEMES OVER THE NEXT 5
YEARS, STARTING THIS FISCAL.
`3.05 LAKH CRORE
OUTLAY ANNOUNCED FOR POWER SECTOR & 100
MORE CITIES TO BE ADDED IN NEXT 3 YRS TO GAS
DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.

To Receive Free Newspaper
PDF Daily
Whatsapp:
https://bit.ly/whatsapplko
Telegram:
https://t.me/firstindialucknow
Click the above link☝ & subscribe us on your
preferred platform.

Union Budget
05
UNION BUDGET
2021-22
OVER 15K SCHOOLS TO BE STRENGTHENED
UNDER NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY
FOR 2021-22, THE FISCAL DEFICIT IS ESTIMATED
AT 6.8% OF GDP IN THE UNION BUDGET
RAILWAYS/HEALTH
With an increased
focus on Minimum
Government &
Maximum
Governance, the
#Aatmanirbhar
Bharat
KaBudget
will further enhance
ease of doing
business,
encourage
research &
development
and help realise
PM@Narendra
Modi ji’s vision of
making India an
innovation hub.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
I welcome the new
Voluntary
Scrappage Scheme
for the prevention of
pollution. The fitness
test of private
vehicles will be after
20 years and the
fitness test for
commercial vehicles
will be after 15 years.
Nitin gadkari
@nitin_gadkari
The Budget 2021-22
presented by
Finance Minister @
nsitharaman Ji has
proven that under
the visionary
leadership of PM @
narendramodi Ji,
the massive
pandemic crisis has
been effectively
converted into huge
opportunity.
#NewIndia is
becoming a
completely
#AatmaNirbhar
Bharat
Kiren Rijiju
@KirenRijiju
Mission Poshan 2.0 to scale up nutrition

FM Nirmala
Sitharaman has
merged
supplementary
nutrition
programme and
the Poshan
Abhiyaan to
strengthen
nutritional
content, delivery,
outreach, and
outcome
New Delhi: The supple-
mentary nutrition pro-
gramme and the Poshan
Abhiyaan have been
merged to launch Mission
Poshan 2.0 to strengthen
nutritional content, deliv-
ery
, outreach, and outcome,
according to the budget an-
nounced on Monday
.
“To strengthen nutri-
tional content, delivery,
outreach, and outcome, we
will merge the Supplemen-
tary Nutrition Programme
and the Poshan Abhiyaan
and launch the Mission
Poshan 2.0. We shall adopt
an intensified strategy to
improve nutritional out-
comes across 112 aspira-
tional districts,” Finance
Minister said.
Out of Rs 24,435 crore al-
located to the WCD Minis-
try, an amount of Rs 20,105
crore has been assigned to
Saksham Anganwadi and
Poshan 2.0. Poshan 2.0
scheme in an umbrella
scheme covering the Inte-
grated Child Development
Services (ICDS), Angan-
wadi Services, Poshan Ab-
hiyaan, Scheme For Ado-
lescent Girls, National Cre-
che Scheme.
Meanwhile, the govern-
ment also announced the
Jal Jeevan mission with an
outlay of Rs 2.87 lakh crore
for 4,378 urban local bodies.
Presenting the Union
Budget for 2021-22, Finance
Minister Nirmala Sithara-
man further said Swachh
Bharat 2.0 will be imple-
mented with an outlay of
Rs 1,41,678 crore over a pe-
riod of five years.
In order to boost manu-
facturing in India, the fi-
nance minister also an-
nounced a production
linked incentive (PLI)
scheme with an outlay of
Rs 1.97 lakh crore for five
years starting this fiscal.A
scheme of mega invest-
ment textiles park in addi-
tion to PLI scheme will be
launched. —ANI
`3,726 cr allocated for
first digital census
ON TARGET
Nadda lauds
budget, says
will play vital
role in
creating jobs
New Delhi: Appreciat-
ing the ‘first digital
budget’ of India,
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) national president
JP Nadda on Monday
congratulated Finance
Minister Nirmala Si-
tharaman and her team
and said the efforts made
in the budget will play
an important role in cre-
ating jobs in the country
.
“This is the first digi-
tal budget. As Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
said, this budget is mak-
ing the rules and regula-
tions easier and will in-
crease the ease of living
for common people,”
said Nadda. He said the
budget was presented
under uncommon cir-
cumstances and it has a
sense of reality and a
thrust on development.
“This budget is for
everyone. This budget
will fulfil the hopes and
aspirations of elderly,
youths, women, along
with labourers of organ-
ised and unorganised
sectors and also of small
and large industrialists.
I want to thank PM Nar-
endra Modi for this in-
clusive budget that is
dedicated to the all-
round welfare of all citi-
zens. Also congratula-
tions to Finance Minis-
ter Nirmala Sitharaman
and her team,” he said.
Nadda called ‘health
and wellbeing, financial
capital, inclusive
growth, human capital,
innovation, research
and development and
minimum intervention’
as the pillars of the
budget. —ANI
Nirmala lays tracks for Indian
Railways’ ‘superfast’ future
inance Minister
Nirmala Sithara-
man spoke of the
New Rail Plan that
envisages a future-
ready Indian Railways by
2030. As part of her Union
Budget 2021 speech, Sithar-
aman announced Rs
1,10,055 crore for Indian
Railways. Out of this re-
cord sum, Rs 1,07,100 crore
is for capital expenditure.
Talking about the priori-
ties of Indian Railways,
FM spoke of the commis-
sioning of the Eastern and
Western Dedicated Freight
Corridors.
According to Sithara-
man, the priority is to
bring down the logistics
cost for industry to pro-
mote ‘Make in India’. For
the same, the Eastern and
Western Dedicated Freight
corridors will be commis-
sioned by June 2022. A few
sections of the dedicated
freight corridors will be
made on Public-Private
Partnership mode. She
also said that the dedicated
freight corridor assets will
be monetised for opera-
tions and maintainance
once the corridors are
commissioned.
The Sonnagar–Gomoh
Section of the Eastern Ded-
icated Freight Corridor
will be taken up in PPP
mode in 2021-22. This sec-
tion is 263.7 kilometres
long. The Gomoh-Dankuni
section of 274.3 kilometres
length will also be taken up
in short succession.
In future, more dedicated
freight corridor projects
will be taken up. These are:
East Coast corridor from
Kharagpur to Vijayawada,
East-West Corridor from
Bhusaval to Kharagpur to
Dankuni and North-South
corridor from Itarsi to Vi-
jayawada. Detailed Project
Reports for the same will
be undertaken in the first
phase, Sitharaman said.
Railway Budget 2021
also highlighted the na-
tional transporter’s plan
for 100% electrification of
the broad gauge network
by December 2023. “Broad
Gauge Route Kilometers
(RKM) electrified is ex-
pected to reach 46,000 RKM
i.e., 72% by end of 2021
from 41,548 RKM on 1st Oct
2020,” she said.
On the passenger front,
Sitharaman said new Vis-
tadome LHB coaches will
be attached to trains on
tourist routes to enhance
comfort. According to the
FM, Indian Railways’ safe-
ty measures have borne re-
sults in the last few years.
Allocates `1,10,055 cr to make Railways future-ready by 2030 and promote Make in India
SPECIAL FILLIP
F
New Delhi: The govern-
ment has allocated Rs 3,726
crore for forthcoming Cen-
sus, which will be the first
digital census, Finance
Minister Nirmala Sithara-
man said on Monday
.
Presenting the Union
Budget for 2021-22, she said
the government is also
working on a national lan-
guage translation initia-
tive.
Sitharaman also an-
nounced a deep ocean mis-
sion with an outlay of more
than Rs 4,000 crore over five
years.
In other measures, she
said the government has
also proposed to set up a
conciliatory mechanism
for quick resolution of con-
tractual disputes.
Further, the government
also proposed to introduce
National Nursing and Mid-
wifery Commission Bill,
Sitharaman said. —ANI
`4.78 L CR FOR DEFENCE
 Overall defence budget for
2021-22 was hiked mar-
ginally by around 1.4%
but there was a nearly
19% rise in capital outlay
for military modernisa-
tion even as official data
showed that an additional
unbudgeted `20,776 cr
was spent to buy mili-
tary hardware in face of
Ladakh border standoff
with China.
 Allocation for Defence
services was increased to
`4.78 lakh crore.
 Revised capital expendi-
ture for 2020-21 was
pegged at `1,34,510 crore
as against last year’s
budgetary allocation of
`1,13,734 crore to reflect
the additional expenses.
 `1,35,060 cr has been set
aside for capital expenditure
that includes purchasing
new weapons, aircraft etc.
`1,000 CRORE
RS 1,000 CRORE TO SOLAR ENERGY CORPORATION
AND RS 1,500 TO RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
AGENCY WERE ALSO ANNOUNCED.
`2 CRORE
IT WAS ALSO ANNOUNCED THAT GOVERNMENT WILL
INCREASE MAXIMUM THRESHOLD PAID-UP CAPITAL
OF SMALL COMPANIES FROM RS 50L TO RS 2 CRORE
BUDGET DECODED
Union FM Sitharaman speaks at LS during the Budget Session of the Parliament in New Delhi on Monday.
—PHOTO
BY
PTI

Union Budget
Vol 1 Issue No. 80 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi Industrial Area Kanpur Road Lucknow.
Published at 98, Friend’’s Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP). Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
ealthcare pro-
viders on Mon-
day hailed the
2021-22 Union
Budget, saying
itprovidesthemuch-need-
ed fillip to the health sec-
tor and is a testimony to
India’s commitment to not
just fight back the COV-
ID-19pandemic,butalsoto
build a stronger and resil-
ient health system.
Poonam Khetrapal Sin-
gh, the Regional Director
WHO South-East Asia Re-
gion, said one of the
greatest lessons this pan-
demic has taught the
world is that health needs
to be a priority
.
According to Professor
K Srinath Reddy, the pres-
ident of Public Health
Foundation of India
(PHFI), the Union Budget
provides much needed fil-
lip to health, sanitation,
nutrition and pollution
control.
Commenting on the
Union Budget, Dr Prat-
hap C Reddy, the chair-
man of Apollo Hospitals
Group, said the COVID-19
pandemic was an unprec-
edented medical crisis
and it underlined the im-
portance of building a
resilient healthcare in-
frastructure.
Dr Ashutosh Raghu-
vanshi, the Managing Di-
rector and CEO of Fortis
Healthcare, said, “The
137 per cent increase in
the healthcare budget
from last year is notable.
Further, an infusion of
Rs 35,000 crore for vac-
cine development and dis-
tribution, ensuring pre-
ventive health and front-
line health and allied
workers’ skills building
along with surveillance
on infectious building,
reinforces Government’s
assurance on public
health programmes.”
Poonam Muttreja, the
executive director of Pop-
ulation Foundation of
India, said, “The PM’s an-
nouncement of At-
manirbhar Swasthya
Bharat Yojana is a step in
the right direction of
strengthening our health-
care capacities and infra-
structure. The increased
investment of Rs 50,000
crore over five years to
strengthen research and
development will surely
put India’s innovation on
the global map.”
Two leading NRI busi-
ness chiefs in the UK wel-
comed the Union Budget
as a promising and path-
breaking initiative.
Hinduja Group Co-
Chairman Gopichand P
Hinduja said the pro-
posed capital expendi-
ture of Rs 5.54 lakh
crores, 34.5 per cent high-
er than the current year,
augurs well for the infra-
structure, manufactur-
ing industry and job
creation and also wel-
comed the hike in the for-
eign direct investment
(FDI) cap for the insur-
ance sector.
London-based Caparo
Group founder Lord
Swraj Paul, whose com-
pany has business inter-
ests in India, took to Twit-
ter to congratulate the fi-
nance minister Sithara-
man and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on the
Budget statement.
It should lead India to
the strength of what it
should be. @NarendraMo-
di you are the vision of
India which can be
achieved. The country has
great scope, he said.
Budget decoded: Self-confident India fights all adversities!
H
Calmness, gentleness, silence,
self-restraint, and purity:
these are the disciplines of
the mind. —Bhagwat Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Office of Mr. Anurag Thakur
@Anurag_Office
The Union Budgets stresses
upon the dual purposes
of asset monetisation and
making infrastructure
financing more robust.
#AatmanirbharBharatKaBudget
Narendra Singh Tomar
@nstomar
Under the leadership of Prime
Minister @narendramodiji we
are moving towards a healthy
strong India and this budget
is going to pave the way in that
direction. In this Budget every
category and every area has
been taken care of in totality.
#AatmanirbharBharatKaBudget
he litmus test to look at a budg-
et lies in the balancing act and
focusongrowthcentricparam-
eters. An intelligent finance
Minister will always take care
of balancing revenue and ex-
pendituresideof budgetonthe
onehandandshowingadoption
of growth centric face of budg-
et.Countercyclicalfiscalpolicy
wasonlytheoptionlefttomake
this Budget expansionary
.
Budget must reflect fiscal pru-
dence, certainty
, confidence,
sustainability features too.
The budget 2021-22 may be
certainly called as ‘Growth
Centric’ as major allocations
have been in focus areas like
Housing and urban affairs
(54581cr.), Health and Family
Welfare (73932 cr.), Education
(93224 cr.), Railways (110055
cr.), Road Transport and High-
ways (118101 cr.), Agriculture
and Farmers’ Welfare (131531
cr.),RuralDevelopment(133690
cr.), Home Affairs (166547 cr.),
Consumer Affairs, Food and
PublicDistribution(256948cr.)
and Defence (478196 cr.) and
hence this budget is dedicated
to infrastructure and health
sectorandwillfulfilthedream
of affordable housing.
Theassumptionsunderlying
the budget start with nominal
GDP growth, which itself is
highlyuncertain,unlikeinear-
lier years. Consensus among
economist is their on 9% real
growth in 2021 - 22 which, with
4% inflation should mean 13%
nominalgrowth.Evenwithout
any tax buoyancy it would pro-
vide significant fiscal space to
economy
. With regard to fiscal
deficit,ithasbeen9.5%of GDP
for20-21whiletargetedto6.8%
GDP in 21-22.
The fiscal deficit as percent-
ageof GDPisnotincontrolbut
in view of pandemic scenario
andhugeallocationof Rs.35000
crores for vaccination and oth-
er important priorities the op-
tions with FM were quite lim-
ited and given the limited op-
tion the expansionary budget-
arypolicywasneedof thehour.
Most of the economist, rating
agenciesandstockmarketana-
lyst have found the budget
quiteexcellentandclosetopub-
lic expectations as no further
taxes has been imposed, Status
quo has been maintained in di-
rect tax sphere showing long
term sustainability on direct
text provisions.
The concept of one man
company will ignite innova-
tions and boost start-ups in
the country
. That is why there
are a few start-ups in the
country which could get Uni-
corn status start-ups.
Housing and construction
to be proved as big job crea-
tives for skilled and Semi-
skilled workers. Housing sec-
tor has highest backward and
forward linkages which will
benefit around 236 industry
instantaneously
.
Though direct tax rates
have been kept unchanged
and no significant indirect
taxes have been imposed or
their rates have been un-
changed inspite of that there
seems to be sufficient cushion
regarding tax collection pre-
cedes in the country
.
Disinvestmentisanotherim-
portant area where path and
policy prescription has been
clarified. A disinvestment pro-
vision for 1.75 lakh crore will
boosttheeconomyorwillmake
adjustment in fiscal deficit. In-
crease in FDI limit to 74% in
Insurance sector will give a
Philip to financial services.
This budget has been laud-
ed as CAPEX budget. A capi-
tal expenditure of Rs 5.54
lakh crore that too with clari-
fied road map will upsurge
the pandemic shocked econo-
my in coming years.
Regarding total receipts
14% comes from direct taxes,
45% come from indirect taxes
includingGST,5%comesfrom
nondebtcapitalreceiptswhile,
36% are borrowings and other
liabilitieswhicharenecessary
to meet out expenditures.
On the other hand 16% of
expenditure goes to state as
their share of taxes and du-
ties, 10% finance commission
transfers, 14% central sector
schemes, 32% other expendi-
tures like pension, centrally
sponsored schemes, subsidies
etc. 8 % is defence expendi-
ture and finally 20% is spent
on interest payments.
If inflationwillnotbeableto
controlled as 4% than country
will fall in vortex of debt and
debt service bunder in econo-
my will be mounting. Revenue
expenditure is 11,40,576 crore
higher than revenue receipts
while capital expenditure is
11,40,676crorehigherthancap-
ital receipts. Which shows that
Govt. will have to cut the coat.
Allocation to MGNREGA,
(111500cr.)NationalEducation
Mission (34300cr.), National
Health Mission (37000cr.), Jal
JeevanMission(28700cr.),Met-
ro Projects (18,998cr.) will pro-
videtocreatejobsandimprove
literacy and happiness indica-
tors. These are government
flagship projects and schemes
to reduce inequalities.
Budget focuses on Aatam
Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, Ho-
listic approach to health, Ener-
gy
,Road,Urban,RailwaySector
Projects,MITRASchemetocre-
ate world class infrastructure,
Road construction, National
rail plan, PPP mode for manag-
ing operational services, infra-
financing, recycling of ships,
subsidy support, launching of
Hydrogen energy mission will
putforththeeconomyaheadof
other similar economies.
As an economics professor
I am of the strong opinion
that budget brings optimism
and hope. Massive allocation,
massive vaccination, big push
to infrastructure, boost on
manufacturing production,
easy monetary conditions, ef-
fective demand pull accompa-
nied with supply side struc-
tural reforms will help allevi-
ating poverty, reducing ine-
quality, rapid growth with
justice. Fiscal consolidation
and debt sustainability are
possible only after growth.
‘Starve the Leviathan’ argu-
ment has forced the FM to opt
for pro cycle bias fiscal policy
.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
GROWTH CENTRIC
EXPANSIONARY BUDGET
T
PROFESSOR
ND MATHUR
Director, School of Humanities
and Social Sciences
Manipal University Jaipur
Year GDP Growth Fiscal deficit
(Average) (As % of GDP)
1999-2004 4.77 5.50
2004-2009 8.13 4.06
2009-2014 7.88 5.38
2014-17 8.67 3.82
2015-16 8.26 3.5
2016-17 7.04 3.5
2017-18 6.12 3.5
2018-19 6.10 3.40
2019-20 4.00 4.60
2020-21 -10.29 9.5
2021-22 -07.50 6.8
06
UNION BUDGET
2021-22
FM IN HER BUDGET SPEECH SAID 7 TEXTILE
PARKS WILL BE SET UP IN OVER 3 YEARS.
A GAS PIPELINE PROJECT WILL BE TAKEN UP IN
UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU KASHMIR.
PERSPECTIVE
BUDGETING FOR
A SELF-RELIANT
ECONOMY
he big Union Budget pie has been
distributed to boost growth in the
pandemic-hit economy with the ba-
sic idea of “spending, spending and
spending”. Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman pegged the fiscal deficit at 9.5
per cent for the current fiscal. The government,
she said, will borrow 22 lakh crore while the
expenditure has been pegged at Rs 34.83 lakh
crore, including 5.54 lakh crore of capital ex-
penditure. The fiscal deficit will come down to
6.8 per cent in 2022. The FM has set a modest
target---Rs 1.75 lakh crore---for disinvestment of
loss-making public sector units. Last year the
disinvestment target was 2.1 lakh crore but was
revised to only 32,000 crore as it fell drastically
short of the target. Even the new target looks
difficult to reach given the quality of account
books of PSUs being put on the block, barring
the Life Insurance Corporation which will be
listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange soon.
Money from divestment will be useful for the
government to bridge the yawning deficit.
Along with the loss-making IDBI, the govern-
ment proposes to privatise two more public sec-
tor banks, which has not found favour with crit-
ics of the budget.
The pandemic brought to the fore the decrep-
it health infrastructure in the country. It was
expected that this critical sector would get the
budgetary push that it deserved. The FM did not
disappoint as she marked Health and Wellbeing
as the number one pillar of the Budget. The al-
location for the sector has been raised by over
137 per cent with an outlay of Rs 2, 23, 846 crore
from Rs 94,452 crore in 2020-2021. But there’s a
catch. By calling it Health and Wellbeing, the
government has brought schemes like Univer-
sal Coverage of Water Supply, Mission Poshan
2.0 (to be launched), Vaccines, Health Systems
and others under its purview.
For the salaried class the Budget had nothing
to cheer. The Budget retains the previous In-
come-Tax slabs. The concession of no ITR filing
by senior citizens aged 75 years and above is in
reality deceptive. It is for those who only have
income from interest and pension and has con-
ditions which are a tad complicated for the sil-
vers of that age to follow. Worse, the government
proposes to tax interest above Rs 2.5 lakh on
Provident Fund contributions.
The agri cess being introduced on petrol and
diesel has sparked a debate that the move is
against federalism as the revenue from the cess
need not be shared with states. As some of the
states are already cash-strapped, it is like short-
changing them.
The Budget has been used for sending a po-
litical message to voters in poll bound West Ben-
gal, Tamil Nadu and Assam with the promise of
infrastructure development.
IN-DEPTH
T

Union Budget
07
UNION BUDGET
2021-22
`1.18 LAKH CR FOR ROADS HIGHWAYS,
`1.10 LAKH CR FOR RAILWAYS
`11K CR FOR 1,016-KM METRO RAIL IN 27 CITIES,
ELECTRIFICATION OF 46,000 KM TRACKS
UTTAR PRADESH
FROM PG 1
BUDGET 2021-22: UP govt hopes to
push infra, rural and health sectors
New Lko-Jaipur, Udaipur trains; `9k-cr for rural local bodies
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With the
Centre’s thrust on rural
development, infra-
structure and health
services in its annual
budget 2021-22 tabled in
the Lok Sabha on Mon-
day
,theYogiAdityanath
government is expect-
ing to boost these sec-
tors in next fiscal year
inthestate.Despitecon-
straints in financial re-
sources because of
slowdown in Central
funding the Yogi gov-
ernment has succeeded
in mobilising funds, es-
pecially for these seg-
ments. The state gov-
ernment expects that
the budget would help
UP significantly
.
Moreover On three
newschemesonHealth,
Jal Mission and Nutri-
tion the state govern-
ment is expecting im-
proved funding in the
next fiscal.
However, All India
Power Engineer s’ As-
sociation headed by
Shailendra Dubey has
expressed dissatisfac-
tion over the govern-
ment move of privatisa-
tion in power sector.
Dubey said it would ad-
versely affect the power
companies in the state.
Similarly, Audhesh Ku-
mar Verma of UP state
power consumers’ pari-
shad expressed concern
over privatisation plan.
Through the Finance
Commission alloca-
tions, the state was al-
located Rs 14,447 crore,
whichincludedRs9,752
crore for rural local
bodies and Rs 4, 695
crore for urban bodies
in the current financial
year. “We hope the fund
would increase in view
of the state’s perfor-
mance in boosting de-
velopmental activities,
a finance department
officer said, adding,
“However a clear pic-
ture would emerge in
next few days.”
—FILE
PHOTO
The State Finance department expects considerable
increase in allocation of Central funds to push ongo-
ing Purvanchal, Bundlekhand and Ganga expressways.
UTTAR PRADESH BOOSTERS
Energy minister Shrikant Sharma said Centre’s
provision of `3,05,982cr for next 5 yrs would
largely help State’s power sector infrastructure,
pre-paid metering and other allied work
`3,05,982crore
`1,58,413crore
UP has got two trains
from Lko to Jaipur
Udaipur. The first tri-
weekly to Jaipur starts
Feb 5 and the one to
Udaipur starts Feb 8.
63km
The 63 km Kanpur-
Lucknow Expressway
providing an alternate
route to NH 27 will also
be initiated in fiscal year
2021-22.
In view of post-covid jump in nation-wide GST
collections, the state tax revenue is likely to be
`1,58,413 cr, which is 37% of revenue receipts.
CII, FICCI greets budget
focusonlivesandlivelihood
First India Bureau
Lucknow: “The Union
Budget is focused on
lives and livelihood in
the backdrop of econo-
my ravaged by covid,”
said Nikhil Sawhney,
Chairman, Confedera-
tion of Indian Indus-
tries (CII), Northern
Region. “We appreciate
the fine balancing done
to soothe the economy
as well as boost it by
way of increased capi-
tal expenditure, focus
on creating physical in-
frastructure, health-
care spending,” he said.
The CII said it was
happy to note that the
budget ticked all the
rightboxesof lives,live-
lihood and growth,
which would propel the
economytoaninclusive
growth trajectory
.
“Many northern states
are hubs of MSMEs,
and there are many pos-
itives for the sector
such as rationalisation
of custom duty struc-
tures which will boost
this sector,” CII said.
Ankit Gupta, Chair-
man,CIIUPStateCoun-
cil said the budget was
a balanced one and
quite contrary to the
past trend, the market
sentiment was positive.
No new cess or taxation
has been introduced
which is a big relief and
will help the economy
grow. CP Gupta, Vice
Chairman, CII UP laud-
ed the renewed thrust
that the budget has laid
on infrastructure.
A blueprint for all
round dev: FICCI
Federation of Indian
Chambersof Commerce
and Industry (FICCI)
termeditablueprintfor
allarounddevelopment.
“Even after going
throughcovidcriris,the
budget attempts to pro-
vide something for all
sectors. It is inclusive,”
saidUPFICCIchairman
Sharad Jaipuria. Co-
chairman Amar Tul-
sian said the focus on
employmentgeneration
and increasing invest-
ment without introduc-
ing any fresh or increas-
ing existing taxes was a
commendable move.
However, former chair-
man of FICCI council
LK Jhunjhunwala said
it would have been even
better had the govern-
ment announced the
creation of a regulatory
body for e-commerce as
well.“Increasingbudget
in health sector was the
need of the hour. This
step of the government
is welcome,” he said.
e-budget to promote
transparency: Guv
First India Bureau
Lucknow: UP Gover-
nor Anandiben Patel
on Monday hailed the
Union budget for 2021-
22. She said this is the
first digital Union
budget which will go a
long way in promoting
transparency, ease of
doing business and
curb corruption.
The governor said
it’s the development
oriented budget which
will help the economy
battered by the pan-
demic where Rs 15,700
crore have been pro-
vided for the MSME
sector. She said the
budget will realise the
dream of self reliant
India. She also wel-
comed the scrap page
policy for the private
cars and commercial
vehicles saying it will
help curb air pollution.
Meanwhile, UP fi-
nance minister Suresh
Khanna while welcom-
ing the Union budget
said besides creating
fresh job opportunities,
it (budget) will help In-
dia to achieve 5 trillion
USD economy status.
He said the budget is
encouraging for all sec-
tions of the society and
will strengthen the
economy and provide
relief to the senior citi-
zens. Welcoming the al-
location for the infra-
structure, Khanna said
Rs 1.18 lakh crore for
roads and highways, Rs
1.10 lakh crore for rail-
ways, Rs 11,000 crore
for 1,016 km of metro
rail in 27 cities and
electrification of 46,000
km of railway tracks
will be major booster
for the economy
.
Governor Anandiben Patel
To make
India...
He also said the
budget has taken
care of senior citi-
zens in the period
of Covid-19, farm-
ers, the youth,
women and the
poor, and focused
on infrastructure
development with
provisions for the
expansion of na-
tional highways.
On the infra-
structure and de-
velopment front,
the UP CM said,
the budget provid-
ed for expeditious
development and
expansion of rail-
way network and
also focused on
the energy sector.
“Hydrogen Ener-
gy Mission will
lead to major
changes in the en-
ergy sector,” he
said.
“Major changes
have also been
proposed in health
i n f r a s t r u c t u r e
and a work plan
has been formu-
lated for disease
control,” the CM
said adding that
‘Jal Jeevan Mis-
sion’ has been
linked to the ur-
ban sector and the
second part of
Swachh Bharat
Mission has been
taken care of. He
welcomed the an-
nouncement of
setting up of sev-
en mega textile
parks.
The CM said the
proposed budget
would give a boost
to the MSME sec-
tor and added the
paperless budget
and provision for
digital census
would check ir-
regularities. He
said provisions
for 100 sainik
schools and an-
nouncements of
scholarship for
students of sched-
uled caste would
be useful.
Atmanirbhar
dose...
Sitharaman said
the investment in
health infrastruc-
ture has been sub-
stantially in-
creased. The
budget also had
special focus on
the four election-
bound states with
allocation of
`225,000 crore for
i n f r a s t r u c t u r e
projects in these
states.
Tamil Nadu,
West Bengal, Ker-
ala and Assam are
the major states
going to polls in
April-May this
year and the budg-
et comes at the
time of farmers
agitating at Delhi
borders against
the three farm
Bills passed in the
monsoon session
of Parliament in
2020.
Of these states,
Sitharaman an-
nounced maxi-
mum Rs 1.03 lakh
crore for Tamil
Nadu.
In significant
changes to the tax-
ation process, Si-
tharaman an-
nounced the scrap-
ping of income tax
for senior citizens
under certain con-
ditions, new rules
for removal of
double taxation for
NRIs, and a reduc-
tion in the time pe-
riod of tax assess-
ments among oth-
er measures. Start-
ups will get an ex-
tension in their
tax holiday for an
additional year. Si-
tharaman also an-
nounced that the
advance tax liabil-
ity on dividend in-
come shall arise
after declaration
of payment of div-
idend.
Dalal Street...
The benchmarks
were propelled by
across-the-board
buying, with
banking and fi-
nance stocks lead-
ing the charge. In-
dusInd Bank
topped the Sensex
gainers’ chart
with a jump of
14.75 per cent, fol-
lowed by ICICI
Bank, Bajaj Fin-
serv, SBI, LT and
HDFC. Only three
index components
closed in the red
-- Dr Reddy’s, Tech
Mahindra and
HUL, shedding up
to 3.70 per cent.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: State Fi-
nance Minister Suresh
Khanna appreciated
PM Narendra Modi and
Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharamam for
strongly pushing At-
manirbhar Bharat plan
through the budget. He
said the modi govt was
committed to provide
more and more facili-
ties to farmers. Khanna
also praised operation
Green Yojana.
On the other hand,
Cabinet Minister
MSME and govt spokes-
man Sidharth Nath
Singh said provision on
Rs 15,700 cr for MSME,
which is growth engine
of development would
go a long way in gener-
ating employment and
further making resolve
of Atmanirbhar Bharat
strong. Singh said pres-
entation of such a
growth oriented budget
in pandemic and revi-
talisingtheecnomywas
a great job by FM Si-
tharaman.
Khanna
hails FM

Gratefulness adds beauty to life
and takes nothing, you can be
grateful for the sun, the wind
and for the laughter of family and friends.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor, First India
LUCKNOW | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
‘BJP selling country to industrialists’
Opposition leaders tear into BJP govt for presenting what they called anti-farmer, anti-poor and directionless budget
Vishal Srivastav
Lucknow: While the
Union Budget 2021-22
got mixed reactions
in the state, the oppo-
sition party chiefs
heavily criticised it.
Here are the reac-
tions of top opposi-
tion leaders:
AkhileshYadav,
Samajwadi Party Chief:
The budget has given
no relief to poor, wom-
en, farmers, youth and
middle class people and
instead, it’s a conspira-
cy to enjoy by selling
national wealth by
some. He said budget
was directionless and
was was unlikely to cre-
ate 5 trillion economy.
Efforts were on to sell
rail, road, bridge, in-
surance, port, airport
and banks besides talks
to seek NGO support
for 100 Sainik Schools
was a conspiracy to in-
volve RSS in it, said Ya-
dav.
As per the former
CM the budget did not
have anything for pro-
testing farmers which
shows BJP’s insensitiv-
ity
. Budget has left sala-
ried class also disap-
pointed as despite cut
in allowances.
Mayawati, Bahujan
Samaj Party Chief:
Crores of poor people,
farmers and working
class of the country are
tired of attractive
promises and hollow
claims. It would be bet-
ter if the government
implemented its stated
policies on the ground.
Will the budget of the
Central Government
presented in Parlia-
ment today be able to
deal with poverty, un-
employment and infla-
tion, etc?. On this basis,
the activities of the
government and this
Budget will be judged.
Sanjay Singh, Aam
Aadmi Party State
in-charge:
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi must remem-
ber what he used to say
about the country. He
said that he would nev-
er let the country being
sold at the hands of for-
eign powers but he is
just doing the opposite
of it. Now-a-days, Modi
should rather say that I
won’t let this country
exist, I won’t let the
farmers exist, won’t let
youth exist, won’t let
business exist, won’t let
banks and LIC exist,
won’t let Railways ex-
ist, won’t let BPCL ex-
ist, won’t let airports
exist. I want to ask the
PM if he has made the
budget for his four Bil-
lionaire friends. I think
now the people in this
country are very well
understanding what is
going on at the Central
level.
Ajay Kumar Lallu,
Congress State
President:
BJP which came to
power with the slogan
“I will not let the coun-
try be sold” has today
moved selling off the
country by privatizing
public properties. The
budget presented by the
BJP government will
only make the country
financially weaker and
hollow and that BJP
government is handing
over the public proper-
ties to their favourite
industrialist friends.
After the corona epi-
demic it was expected
that the budget would
have some economic
packages for industries
and sectors affected by
it in the state but such
expectations went
down the drain after
the announcement of
budget.
Pollution check: 100s of
e-buses to run in cities of UP
Man immolates self
in front of assembly
Ghazipur border turns into
fortress as protesters swell
First India Bureau
Lucknow: To curb
growing pollution in
the state, the govern-
ment has planned to go
the e-way with scores of
new Electric Buses
across the state.
A review meeting on
the action plan for oper-
ating 700 brand new air-
conditioned electric
buses in 14 cities of the
state was undertaken
under the chairman-
ship of Urban Develop-
ment Minister Ashu-
toshTandoninthepres-
ence of officials from
the Urban Transport
Directorate. In the
meeting he directed the
officials to make sure
that maximum number
of charging stations be
made for smooth opera-
tion of these electric
buses and also assured
that UTF (Urban Trans-
port Fund) will be in-
creased from Rs. 150
crore to Rs. 250 crore.
The Minister in-
structed the officials to
mark the routes for the
buses should be marked
in the 14 cities so that
the information on the
bus routes will be easily
available for the public.
These routes should be
marked on the front as
well as back of the bus-
es. Currently 40 such
A/C e-buses are being
operated in Lucknow.
Ashutosh Tandon
while discussing the
about the system of
cleaning the buses said
that public should be
instructed to make sure
the buses are clean by
cleaning after them-
selves while disembark-
ing,sothatthebusstays
clean on the inside just
like the outside.
Number of buses:
• Agra-100
• Lucknow -100
• Kanpur -100
• Mathura-50
• Ghaziabad-50
• Meerut-50
• Varanasi-50
• Aligarh-25
• Bareilly-25
• Moradabad-25
• Shahjahanpur-25
• Gorakhpur-25
• Jhansi- 25
• Prayagraj-25
Operating cost:
• Cost of the bus –Rs.
1.30 crore (per bus)
• Electric bus Charg-
er (1 for 4 buses) –Rs. 25
lakh• Workshop, tool
and plant –Rs. 2.32
crore (per depot)
Janardan Misra
Lucknow: Frustrated
over alleged apathy of
of government officials,
amanimmolatedself in
front of Uttar Pradesh
Assembly here on Mon-
day
. Security officials
rushed to the spot and
dozed the fire but till ten
man had received se-
vere burn injuries.
The man was identi-
fied as Umashankar, a
resident of Godara vil-
lage under Indergarh
area in Kannauj dis-
trict. Umashankar told
media that Shiv Kumar,
a resident of the same
village had encroached
upon his land with the
help of village headRaj
Narayan Gupta and le-
khpalPushpantMishra.
He alleged even senior
police and administra-
tive officials were not
heeding to his griev-
ances.
Naveen Arora, Jt
commissioner (Law and
Order) said probe was
orderedoncomplaintof
the man. He said Kan-
nauj DM was instructed
to conduct thorough in-
vestigation of the alle-
gations made by
Umashankar. Stringent
actions would be taken
againstculpritsif found
guilty
, he stated.
First India Bureau
Ghazipur: The Delhi-
Uttar Pradesh border at
Ghazipur turned into a
fortress Monday with
multi-layer barricades
and a heavy security de-
ployment at the site
where farmers are pro-
testing against the new
Central laws.
Protesters are pour-
ing in as Bharatiya
Kisan Union members
and its leader Rakesh
Tikait stay pitched at
UP Gate, occupying a
stretch of the Delhi-
Meerut highway since
November.
Hundreds of security
personnel, including
the Provincial Armed
Constabulary (PAC) and
Rapid Action Force
(RAF), kept vigil.
Drones were being
usedtomonitorthesitu-
ation and vehicles
checked as more sup-
port continued to flow
in for the BKU from Ut-
tar Pradesh, Haryana
and Rajasthan.
Apart from the barri-
cades, barbed wire has
been installed to stop
people moving on foot.
Ghaziabad DM Ajay
Shankar Pandey and
SSPKalanidhiNaithani
reviewed the situation
on the ground as they
visited Ghazipur, Seem-
apuri and Dilshad Gar-
den areas amid the on-
going farmers’ stir, an
official statement said.
Akhilesh Yadav Mayawati Sanjay Singh Ajay Kumar Lallu
MSMEs are the
backbone of our
economy.
Announcements
made in
#Aatmanirbhar
BharatKaBudget for
MSMEs will
enhance Ease of
Doing Business. It
will also benefit
textiles industry
which primarily
comprises of MSMEs
SMRITI IRANI
Union Cabinet
Minister MP from
Amethi
—FILE PHOTO
In the Union Budget,
incorporation of 100
new Sainik Schools
along along with
others, is a move
that would bolster
the nation It would
increase the
discipline, culture
and love for the
nation.
Dinesh Sharma
Dy CM, UP
Union Budget has
showcased that the
Modi government is
strengthening the
country. The budget
is for village,
villagers and
farmers.
Ramapati Shashtri
Cabinet Minister
The budget was
present in an
extraordinary
pandemic condition.
It would over all
boost economy and
would be great for
country’s future. The
budget has taken
care of all sectors.
Brajesh Pathak
Law Minister, UP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Most schol-
arsof thecityhailedthe
Union budget 2021-22.
MK Agarwal, Head, De-
partmentof Economics,
University of Lucknow
said, the budget aims to
move forward on strong
pillarsforlongtermself
sustaining growth and
inclusive development.
Health sector was the
worst challenged due to
corona and under Aat-
manirbhar Bharat Ab-
hiyan now this sector
has emerged the most
promising one due to
strong thrust on it and
Indian vaccines which
may be supplied to 100
countries.Specialthrust
on infrastructure and
human development
would be helpful in re-
vival of growth and em-
ploymentopportunities.
Budget is based on
themeof minimumgov-
ernment and maximum
governance. This is
budget with immediate
impactof pandemicand
still has lot of innova-
tion like boost on infra-
structure to get invest-
ment on port and ship-
ping. High fiscal deficit
of 9.5 % will be tackled
with strategic disinvest-
ment and PLI in 13 sec-
tors of industry
. Budget
will have multiplier ef-
fect to get 11% growth
and V shaped recovery
of economy
,said Suneel
Gupta, Jaipuria Insti-
tute of Management.
Health and Family
Welfare budget 2021-22
got Rs 76,902 cr, which is
2.21%of thetotalbudget
in contrast to 2.47%of
2020- 21 revised esti-
mates. No growth in
healthcare spending is
visible for 2021-22, said
CS Verma, Senior Fac-
ultyCoordinator,Pub-
lic Health Research at
Giri Institute of Devel-
opment Studies.
Budget gets a pat from scholars
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: In a major
setback to two of the
top bureaucrats owing
to a tussle between
three state ministers,
Finance Minister, En-
ergy Minister and Ur-
ban Development Min-
ister, ACS Finance and
ACS Energy have been
reshuffled from their
positions. What came
as a surprise cum
shock though was that
the ACS Finance has
been shunted just be-
fore the Yogi Adity-
anath government is
about to present its
budget in about a fort-
night. Including the
two, as many as 10 IAS
officers have been
transferred.
IAS Sanjeev Kumar
Mittal has been given
the responsibility of
the State Tax Depart-
ment along with an ad-
ditional charge Chair-
man of State Vigilance
Commission and Ad-
ministration Tribunal
II while ACS S Radha
Chauhan has been giv-
en the responsibility of
Finance with an addi-
tional charge as Com-
missioner, Finance De-
partment. IAS Alok
Kumar II has been re-
moved as the Principal
Secretary Medical,
Health and Family Wel-
fare and named as
Principal Secretary,
Medical Education.
Similarly, IAS Dr. Ra-
jneesh Dubey has been
named as ACS, Urban
Development and IAS
M Devraj has been giv-
en the responsibility of
Power Corporation.
Agriculture Produc-
tion Commissioner
Alok Sinha has been
named as the new ACS,
Energy Department,
while IAS Deepak Ku-
mar has been removed
as the Principal Secre-
tary, Municipal Devel-
opment and has been
appointed as Principal
Secretary, Housing,
IAS Alok Kumar III has
been named as the Sec-
retary, Technical Edu-
cation as well as Secre-
tary to CM while IAS
Rajendra Kumar Ti-
wari will hold his cur-
rent position as Chief
Secretary of the state,
he has also been roped
in as Commissioner,
Infrastructure and In-
dustrial Development.
Arvind Kumar who
was the ACS, Energy
Department, has been
named as the ACS, In-
frastructure and Indus-
trial Development
along with added re-
sponsibility of IT and
Electronics Depart-
ment.
Ministers’ tussle turns table on senior IAS officers just ahead of state budget
Finance, Energy, Urban Dev Ministers’
fight hits ACS Finance and Energy
Multiple layers of
barricades have been
put up and nails
cemented on road
First India Bureau
Lucknow: According
to senior advocate Pan-
kaj Sabharwal, Senior
citizens (above 75 yrs)
earning pension and in-
terest in-
comewillbe
e x e m p t
from filing
return. Reo-
peningtime-
limit re-
duced to 3 years from 6
yearsandforserioustax
evasion cases, time-lim-
it intact at 10 years sub-
ject to PCIT’s approval.
Tax dispute of 85,000
crore addressed under
the VsV Scheme, com-
munication with I-T Ap-
pellate Tribunal to be
electronic, and it pro-
posessettingupDispute
Resolution Mechanism
for small taxpayers.
Direct tax
proposals
The injured man being
brought to the hospital.
S Radha Chauhan Arvind Kumar Sanjiv Kumar Mittal Deepak Kumar

ink never really goes
out of style, and it’s ac-
tually particularly on-
trend for the upcoming
2021 season. While it
may be associated with
summer, designers
showcase everything from pale
baby pinks to peachy shades
and shocking pinks on the run-
ways.
PINK BLOUSE
A pink blouse can be a stylish
option for either work or at the
weekend. The deep rose-pink
could easily be tucked into
high-waisted wide pants or a
pencil skirt or you could wear
loose over leggings.
PINK SWEATER
A soft pink sweater can be a
beautiful choice as the weather
starts to turn colder. You could
simply wear with your blue
jeans. Or, I also saw pink
teamed with olive green and
with beige on the designer run-
ways.
PINK BLAZER
I’m sure you already have a
blazer of some description in
your closet. But how about a
pink one like the Endless
Rose blazer below? You could
wear with a column or black
or navy underneath for an
elongating, slimming ef-
fect, or just pop over a
pair of jeans and a
white t-shirt.
PINK DRESS
A wrap style dress is univer-
sally flattering, and a plissé
dress could be a great alterna-
tive to your little black dress.
PINK JEANS
While you probably have black,
blue and white jeans in your
closet, a pair of pink jeans
could be a good addition. You
could style them in the same
way you do your white jeans for
summer.
PINK SHOES
Changing your shoes is an easy
way to update your outfits. You
could add a pop of pink to neu-
tral outfits in your closet.
PINK HANDBAG
If you’re more of a bag person
than a shoe person, you could
update your looks with your
handbag and what can be
better than a pink one!
If you opt for bright pink,
you can let one bold, pink
piece do the talking and
keep the rest of your outfit
low-key or you can mix
your pinks to make a big-
ger statement.
LUCKNOW, TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 2, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Pink is one of those colours that divides opinion.
You probably either love to wear it or never wear
pink at all. City First brings plenty of ways to wear
it in a chic and stylish way, whether you choose a
pale pastel shade or a bright shocking pop of pink!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
P
GO PINK!

agdeep Singh, a PR
Practitioner in
Jaipur, has recent-
ly compiled his po-
ems. They have
been published by
the well-known In-
do-English poetry publish-
er, Writers Workshop in
Kolkata. The man behind
Writers Workshop, Prof. P.
Lal said for his poetry:
“Apart from their original-
ity and sensitivity, they
have the rare quality in an
Indian poet of irony and
readiness to laugh at one-
self or about otherwise se-
rious themes.” First India
interviewed the poet, whose
poems will also be featured
in the Jaipur Literature
Festival (JLF) in February
.
Q:Congratulations on
compiling your first
collection of poems?
A:Thank you. I have not
been very organized in
terms of keeping my po-
ems safely. I have lost
quite a number of them.
Many of them were
scribbled on pieces of pa-
per which I have mis-
placed. However, from
the motivation of family
and friends, I have com-
piled 46 poems for this
anthology. These poems
range from 1976 to 2019.
Q:I can see a wide variety
in your poems. They
cover a huge landscape.
A:True. There is a wide va-
riety in the 46 poems I
have compiled. They
deal with vicissitudes of
life, the inevitability of
death, pangs of love and
even the intense strug-
gle to write poetry. They
also touch a number of
other topics like that of
a holocaust survivor and
one even on the city of
Jaipur as well. Here, I
am imagining, standing
under the statue of Ma-
haraja Sawai Jai Singh
II at Statue Circle, be-
seeching him not to step
down from his marble
cenotaph or else he will
get a shock to see the
mess the city of Jaipur
is in. One special feature
of my poems, of which I
am very proud, are
my poems on personas
like Hemingway, Ham-
let, Sylvia Plath and the
even the protagonist of
the well- known novel,
Catch-22, ‘Yossarian’. I
think I have very deftly
compared dithering of
Hamlet in the play
with the Nike logo: ‘Just
Do It’.
Q:The name of your an-
thology, ‘My Epitaph’,
is such a negative title.
Why have you chosen
such a title?
A:Though my anthology
does have death poems –
this particular poem is
not a death poem. It por-
trays how one feels that
one has not achieved
much in his life. The po-
et’s epitaph ultimately
says that he did nothing.
The term, ‘cold, hard
stone’ in the poem sym-
bolisesthestruggleinlife.
There are death poems
which are strong and can
even disturb. One is even
on the Chandpole crema-
torium, which states that
ultimately I will be burnt
to ashes here.
Q:All your poems are in
free verse. Have you
never attempted a
rhyme poem?
A:Most of the contempo-
rary poetry is written in
free verse. In free verse,
one need not rhyme or
there need not be a par-
ticular format of stanzas.
However, that doesn’t
mean that one doesn’t
have to discipline oneself
in writing free verse. A
method has to be fol-
lowed. The basic rhythm
should be there and in
free verse, you can use
literary devices like allit-
eration, repetition of
linesandof course,smart
useof metaphors,similes
and onomatopoeia.
Q:Are you particularly
fond of any poem?
A: For a poet all his poems
are like his children. It is
difficult to choose just
one. I have written both
subjective (personal feel-
ings) and objective (not
influence by personal
feelings) poetry. I agree
with those who have read
my poems that they are
‘dark’. I don’t think I can
write light verse or lim-
ericks and doggerels.
However, in the past 10
months of the pandemic,
I think I have written my
most mature poetry
which does not appear in
this collection. For in-
stance, three or four po-
ems on the pandemic it-
self.
Q:Hardly any magazines
or journals publish po-
etry these days so what
is the future of genre of
poetry?
A:Thankfully, there are a
lot of online poetry por-
tals – some of them very
good. One can contribute
one’s verses on such por-
tals and get immediate
good feedback. I also
posted my poem entitled
Hemingway on a Hem-
ingway online group
which started a fiery de-
bate on the poem as well
as the writer. Similarly,
the same happened when
I posted my poem on Syl-
via Plath on her online
portal which again gen-
erated a lot of critical
comments. Most of the
comments were appreci-
ative and they gave me a
great high.
Q: You have written some-
wherethatapoembrings
about a catharsis.
A:It does. If the poet or
writer is under stress
for whatever reason,
any work of art or his or
her writings can pro-
vide relief by way of re-
lease from the repressed
emotions. Thereby pro-
viding relief from
stress, pain and suffer-
ing. And it is not only
for the writer but even
the reader can feel the
catharsis within him-
self. Like one does after
watching a play which
brings about catharsis
in the audience.
Q:Are you planning to
come out with another
anthology of poems?
A:Yes. As I said, I have writ-
ten, what I think is some
very mature poetry in
the year 2020. These po-
ems don’t figure in this
anthology. Hopefully,
soon I shall come out
with another collection.
10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
KHUSHBOO JAIN, Fashion Blogger
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Don’t be hasty in paying up
for something without
getting all the details. A
health initiative promises to
keep you fit and on the go. Forging
cordial relations with those you meet
at work will be in your favour. Your
moodiness may cause friction at
home.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You will succeed in
enhancing your earning. A
business deal may have to
be executed on a different
date. An outdoor activity is likely to
give you a chance for sweating out.
Family would be supportive for those
trying to settle at a new place. Devote
few hours to meditation.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
It may appear tough to
please a workplace senior
as he/she expects more
from you. Devoting time to
family will provide immense
happiness. Adopting a better lifestyle
is indicated for some and will keep
them fit and healthy. Excellent
returns are expected from property.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Health remains excellent.
Arrears or back payments
are likely to be received. Day
proves favourable for those
holding responsible positions.
Someone’s proximity on the domestic
front is likely to keep you contented.
Those spiritually inclined will be able to
set out on a pilgrimage.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
New avenues of earning
will help secure the
financial front. You will
manage to nip a medical
problem in the bud and save yourself
from problems. Your decisions on
the professional front will turn out to
be correct. Your hands will be full in
entertaining the differing demands.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
You are apple of your
parents eyes. A property
issue you are apprehensive
about is likely to be settled
amicably. Your attempts to gain
popularity on the social front are likely
to meet with partial success. An ego
clash on the work front cannot be ruled
out for some.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Although expenditure rises,
you will manage things
well. This is not the right
time to disclose your
business intentions; keep your
competitors guessing. A perfect
understanding with spouse will help
in gauging moods and pre-empting
showdowns.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Good returns are foreseen
on an investment. Only a
professionally sound
strategy will succeed in the
kind of competitive environment that
you are in. Peace and quiet prevails
on the home front for you to rest and
recoup. Addition or alteration to
existing property is foreseen.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Keep control over
expenditure. Sticking to
your exercise regime will
begin to show positive
results. Avoid being lazy on the
professional front. Family will be
most caring and do much to make
you comfortable. You are likely to
harbour some resentment.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You can expect the
financial situation to
improve substantially.
Successfully completing an
assigned job will give you the edge at
work. Your dogged determination will
keep you fit. Keeping a positive
outlook will help in spreading
positivity at home.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You can become money
conscious and come into
the ‘saving’ mode. A
colleague can prove a great
asset in helping settle pending tasks.
You are likely to please the family
members by taking them to their
favourite haunt. Legal help regarding
a property matter will benefit.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Whatever you earn today is
likely to be spent. Chances
of getting a new job look
bright for young profes-
sionals. Home environment will
encourage you to relax and let your
hair down. Those who have applied
for a house or plot may get a step
closer to acquiring it.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
“IT’S AN INTENSE STRUGGLE
TO WRITE POETRY”
JAGDEEP SINGH
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
J
Jagdeep Singh

ETC
11
I
t has been three weeks since
Anushka Sharma and Vi-
rat Kohli entered the
parenthood phase and
looks like the couple is to-
tally loving it. After
sharing the big news
that they were proud
parents to a baby
girl on February 11,
Anushka took to In-
stagram on Monday
to share her daugh-
ter’s first glimpse.
While the couple
did not reveal their
daughter’s face, they did
introduce her as Vamika
to the world.
Anushka and Virat can be seen
standing adorably as they hold
daughter Vamika. The photo has
received lot of love on social me-
dia and several celebrities also
took to the comments
section to show
love. —Agency
Action sequence
REVEALED
A
ditya Roy Kapur is currently film-
ing for a big action sequence in
Mumbai’s Filmcity, and has
trained for five months to per-
fectly showcase the overall action in the
film, OM: The Battle Within directed by Ka-
pil Verma. Revealing details about the scene,
Verma in-
forms, “Aditya
Roy Kapur is
p r e s e n t l y
shooting for a
massive ac-
tion sequence.
A huge county
jail set has
been erected in
Filmcity and the
scene involves
Adi’s character
to rescue some-
one from the
prison.
—Agency
B
lake Lively re-
calls the time
she felt inse-
cure about her
body after she wel-
comed Betty in her
life with Ryan Reyn-
olds. Betty is Blake’s
and Ryan’s third kid.
The actress revealed
that instead of feeling
proud of her body
which nourished the
life within, she felt in-
secure as most of the
famous brands
wo u l d n’ t
suit her.
She encour-
ages brands that
make women
feel proud of who
they are.
—ANI
Beautiful Boy
anessa Morgan and Michael Kopech have been bless-
ed with a baby boy. It is unclear when the baby was
born since the couple has maintained privacy for
their newborn, but the couple is together and has
happily welcomed the baby. Vanessa Morgan en-
joyed working even when she was 9 months preg-
nant. —ANI
A
amir Khan took a
break from Laal
Singh Chaddha, to
shoot a cameo for
his friend, Amin Hajee’s
directorial debut, Koi
Jaane Na in Jaipur. The
actor is back in Mumbai
and all geared up to get
back to his own film, Laal
Singh Chaddha. In doing
so, Aamir Khan has de-
cided to turn off his phone
completely from Monday
so that he doesn’t feel dis-
tracted. —Agency
Switching
off the phone
Happy Birthday!
O
n legendary actor-
comedian Brah-
manandam’s birth-
day on Monday, Ram
Charan shared a fun selfie
with him and also penned
a sweet note. The actor
shared a throwback pic-
ture that also features
Upasana and Nihai-
ka Konidela. The
RRR star wrote,
“Wishing our king
of comedy and
most loved Pad-
ma Shri. Brah-
manandam Un-
cle a Very Happy
Birthday !!”
—Agency
It’s a baby boy!
A
ctor-comedian
Kapil Sharma
and Ginni
Chatrath be-
came parents to a
baby boy on Monday
morning. Kapil an-
nounced the ar-
rival of their sec-
ond child on Twit-
ter early in the
morning and said
both the baby and
Ginni were
healthy. His social
account was
flooded with con-
gratulatory mes-
sages from the fans.
Right from Bolly-
wood to Television
celebrities, all con-
gratulated the couple
and wished the baby
all good luck.
—Agency
V
In Retrospect
Much awaited
name revealed
Anushka Sharma
...her post
Kapil Sharma and Ginni Chatrath
Ram Charan’s post
Vanessa Morgan
Blake Lively
Aamir Khan
Poster of the film
His tweet

12
CITY BUZZ
IAS Ankit Khandelwal, IAS
Devisharan Upadhyay,
IPS Ravi Shankar, IPS
Renuka Mishra and BJP
MLA Dr Awadhesh Singh
celebrated their birthdays
on Monday, February 1. We
wish them all the best!
HAPPY B’DAY!
CONDOLENCES!
IAS V K Malhotra from
the 1970 batch, took
his last breath on
Monday. Malhotra was
a retired Chairman of
the Revenue Board. Our
deepest sympathies to
him and his family.
KUDOS TO KANPUR
A
s Finance Min-
ister Nirmala
Sitharaman
announced Union Budg-
et 2021 on Monday, City
First talked to a few peo-
ple who paid close atten-
tion to the gender budg-
eting! It’s that time of
the year! The time
where the progress of a
nation is inextricably
linked with the alloca-
tion of its budget. While
all eyes were on Finance
Minister Nirmala Si-
tharaman, who present-
ed the Union Budget
2021 on Monday, there
was a particular section
of the society that paid
close attention to the
gender budgeting. The
pandemic job cut hit
women in various
fields. They expected
the Central government
to announce steps to
push women labour par-
ticipation rate in the
budget. From Pala-
niappan Chidambaram
to Nirmala Sitharaman,
for years, India’s fi-
nance ministers have
promised to improve
women’s welfare
through higher and
more focused govern-
ment spending. Gender
inequality remains rife
in other aspects of In-
dian life; however, bet-
ter-implemented gender
budgetingcouldaddress
these inequalities. This
type of gender budget-
ing, which applies a
gender lens to expendi-
ture and prioritizes
gender-specific out-
comes, has emerged as a
popular way for govern-
ments across the world
to empower women and
improve gender equali-
ty
. While going down the
memory lane, we re-
called Nirmala Sithara-
man saying, “This is a
budget for every woman
wanting to stand up and
being counted” as she
presented the budget
2020. This year, women
from
various walks of life
hoped for certain meas-
ures including women
employment and ways
to boost women entre-
preneurship from the
union budget 2021. City
First talked to a few
readersfromRajasthan,
Gujarat and Uttar
Pradesh to know their
view on the Union
Budget 2021 and if it
has anything special for
women?
T
he exhibition of
exceptional ar-
tisans and their
artisan ship under one
roof is truly a notable
sight at Lucknow’s on-
going ‘Hunar Haat’.
Today’s district in
spotlight is Kanpur, fa-
mous for its leather, ho-
siery and textile indus-
tries. The Kanpur ki-
osk at Hunar Haat saw
a great deal of attrac-
tion and innumerable
customers for their in-
credible leather prod-
ucts. It even became
one of the most visited
kiosks at the Awadh
shilpgram. The com-
mercial capital of the
state is the biggest pro-
ducer of leather prod-
ucts.
Apart from playing a
stellarroleinthedevelop-
ment of the country as a
whole, Kanpur has also
been instrumental in
making an unforgettable
contribution to the Indi-
an freedom struggle. The
ODOP:‘OneDistrict,One
Product’ scheme helps
the craftsmen from all
overthecountrytoberec-
ognisedandgaintraction
for their work.
ODOP!
Today’s district
in spotlight is
Kanpur, famous
for its leather,
hosiery and
textile
industries!
KARISHMA
GWALANI
karishma.gwalani@
firstindia.co.in
The budget is
full of hope
snd promises
to accelerate
the economic
growth in short to
medium term but
the key lies in execu-
tion and
government’s con-
trol over fiscal defi-
cit within target
9.5%.
—-APRA KUCHHAL,
RAJASTHAN
The only
thing which I
look forward
to is women
would be allowed to
work in all catego-
ries and also in
night shifts with ad-
equate protection. If
implemented, can be
a great step in terms
of women empower-
ment.
—SHAIKH UZMA JAMAL,
UTTAR PRADESH
Everyyear
,our
FinanceMinis-
tercomesup
withnewpoli-
ciestoallocategender-
basedbudgetwiththe
hopethatitwould
eradicatethegenderin-
equalityinIndia.I’m
hopingforbetterpoli-
ciesandevenbetterim-
plementationtoseethe
actualdifference.
—SHIPRA MAHESHWARI,
GUJARAT
CITY FIRST
W
hile Uttar Pradesh is
known for popping up
surprises in the politi-
cal world, what drives its zeal is a
little laid back. From pujas to ha-
wans to prayers in Mosques and
Churches, the land of the Ganges
sees it all. Similar scenes that re-
late politics with mythology, were
witnessed in Kanpur where ahead
of the Union Budget 2021, a 'Hawan'
was conducted on Monday marking
the massive expectations from it.
Prayers were performed by the peo-
ple with posters of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman and Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adti-
yanath.
Locals appealed to PM Modi to
give relief to the general public
from inflation and expected the
budget to be in the public interest
while conducting the 'Hawan'.
Meanwhile, the Budget presenta-
tion will begin with a speech from
Finance Minister scheduled to take
place at around 11 am. The dura-
tion of the budget speech usually
ranges from 90 to 120 minutes. This
year, the Union Budget will be de-
livered in paperless form for the
first time. Finance Minister had
launched the Union Budget Mobile
App for hassle-free access of Budg-
et documents by Members of Par-
liament (MPs) and the general pub-
lic using the simplest form of digi-
tal convenience, according to the
Finance Ministry. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
IASTRAINING! TEATIME! ORIENTATION CEREMONY!
IAS officers Dharmendra Pratap Singh, Uday Bhan Tripathi, RNS
Yadav, Shubhrant Shukla, Rajesh Kumar Tyagi and Ram Singhasan
Prem went to induction training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration, Mussoorie on Monday.
Oikoshreem Infratech Private Limited and Umeed organization
conducted a ‘Tea Serving’ program at Aalambagh Chouraha
Lucknow on Friday. The chief guest for the program was
cabinet minister, Mahendra Singh, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The faculty members and senior students of King George Medical University (KGMU) organised a ceremony where they
welcomed the new students by giving them white coats at the Kalam Centre, KGMU on Monday. The ceremony was held to
motivate students. —PHOTOS BY SUMIT KUMAR
Havan for
Heavenly Budget
During the Hawan
Kanpur’s Kiosks at Hunar Haat
Kanpur’s famous leather made footwear
WHATBUDGET?
REINVENTING
INDIAN TASTE BUDS
These modern day culinarians are turning a new leaf with
their revamped delicacies with same age old spices!
ucknow is
known to
have deli-
cious little
food stalls of
a u t h e n t i c
cuisines in
every nook and cran-
ny of the city. Recent-
ly, it has been tran-
scended by fusion
and reinvented food
at hotels cafes cre-
ated by culinary art-
ists aka chefs.
Today, the city first
decided to talk to
some of these savant
chefs and see how
they create such fas-
cinating fusions.
Akash Singh
Rathore, chef and
head of food and bev-
erage, Hilton Garden
Inn, Lucknow, tells
us what goes behind
creating an innova-
tive reinvented cui-
sine.
He says, “Regular
updates on what’s the
current trends are
going across the
world, a unique ap-
proach to play
around ingredients
to create balanced
taste, texture and
wholesome meals.
That’s why, Indian
and Asian cuisine
have plenty of room
for reinventions and
to make your own
menus. India produc-
es plenty of fresh in-
gredients and each
state has its own cui-
sine which can be
presented in any
form with simplicity,
in a way for experi-
ments to happen.”
India, the land of
diversity shows its
diversity through
food.
Coincidentally, ex-
ecutive chef Subhash
Jana of Renaissance
Hotel, Lucknow does
just that.
He tells us, “I have
been very exquisite
in terms of innova-
tion in every cuisine
I learn and explore.
There are a few which
stand out in terms of
my connection with
them but the closest
one is Assamese Cui-
sine, Masor Tenga,
traditional fish curry
in Assamese house-
holds. I made a mod-
ern interpretation
where all compo-
nents and traditions
remain unchanged
but the dish gets a
completely new ava-
tar.”
Cooking is merely
a skill but to acquire
culinary expertise is
an act of artistic cre-
ativity. Gaurish
Bhargava, commis
chef at Molecule Luc-
know, says, “Chefs
are no different from
an artist. We have
our little epiphanies
which we subse-
quently express in
distinctive ways. If
you take the example
of the good ol’ Pa-
neer Tikka, back in
the day was just tra-
ditional tandoor
marination. Paneer
Tikka in current
times comes with a
cheese filling or is in-
fused with different
sauces to give it a
fancy and fusionistic
appearance.”
These modern day
culinarians are turn-
ing a new leaf with
their revamped deli-
cacies with same age
old spices.
MONICA
PRABHAKAR
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
L Aakash Singh Rathore
Chef Subhash Jana Gaurish Bhargava
1 2
4
3
5

First india lucknow edition-02 february 2021

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais procurados

Mais procurados (18)

Semelhante a First india lucknow edition-02 february 2021

Semelhante a First india lucknow edition-02 february 2021 (20)

Mais de FIRST INDIA

Mais de FIRST INDIA (20)

Último

Último (7)

First india lucknow edition-02 february 2021