Finance Ministry Consultative Committee suggests a ‘practical and visionary’ budget

P-Chidambaram1New Delhi, Feb 4 : The Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Finance on Monday suggested Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to prepare a practical, reasonable and visionary budget for the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament.

The pre-budget consultation meeting held today under the Chairmanship of the Finance Minister in which the members of the committee said that budget should give incentive for job creation, growth oriented and give recognition to young entrepreneurs and innovators.

The committee also suggested that the budget should focus on water conservation and urban renewable by tackling both environmental and physical degradation in this area.

Some members focused on the incentives for the youth stating that home loans may be provided at cheaper rate of interest for the youth up to the age of 35 years and scope of MGNREGA be expanded to include creation of human assets along with physical assets in the rural areas.

Some of them suggested giving incentives to small agro based and food processing industries in rural areas to create more employment opportunities for rural people, which would help in tackling the problem of migration from rural to urban areas.

Certain members suggested for focusing on providing of drinking water facilities, tackling of garbage problem and sewerage related issues and providing basic facilities of health and education in rural areas.

Suggestion were also made to broad base the tax network, to minimize centrally sponsored schemes and focus on quality control and enforcement of those central schemes which are 100 percent funded by the Central Government.

Along with Chidambaram, both the Minister of State for Finance S. S. Palanimanickam and Namo Narain Meena and Adviser to the Finance Minister, Parthasarthy Shome were present at the meeting. (ANI)