Remember Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s December 31 televised address that nearly ruined your New Year’s Eve party? Turns out that Modi’s slew of announcements were worth nearly Rs 4 lakh crore. Well, Well 3,87,943 crore to be exact, if you go by the budget documents. How did we arrive at this figure? We looked at the promises in the speech and matched it with the corresponding allocations in the budget documents.
* “The number of houses being built for the poor, under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana in rural areas, is being increased by 33 per cent.” – The allocation for PMAY is Rs 29,043 crore.
* “Friends in the last few weeks, an impression was sought to be created that the agriculture sector has been destroyed. Farmers themselves have given a fitting reply to those who were doing so. Rabi sowing is up by 6 per cent compared to last year. Fertilizer offtake is up by 9 per cent.” – Fertilizer subsidy has been penciled in at Rs 70,000 crore.
* “NABARD created a fund of 21,000 crore rupees last month. Now, Government is adding 20,000 crore rupees more to this.” – Add Rs 20,000 crore.
* “Government has taken some decisions in the interest of small and medium businesses, which will also boost employment.” – Revenue foregone from MSME tax breaks is Rs 7,200 crore.
* “The progress of the MUDRA Yojana has been very encouraging. Last year, nearly 3 and a half crore people have benefited from this. The Government now aims to double this, giving priority to Dalits, Tribals, Backward Classes and Women.” – Rs 2,44,000 allocated to the MUDRA yojna.
* “Farmers who have taken loans for the Rabi crop from District Cooperative Central Banks and Primary Societies, will not have to pay interest on such loans for a period of 60 days.” – Interest subsidy for short term credit to farmers has been budgeted at Rs 15,000 crore.
* “We are introducing a nation-wide scheme for financial assistance to pregnant women. 6000 rupees will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women.” – Rs 2,700 crore for maternal benefit programme.
Source: News18