On February 29, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Union Budget for the year 2016-17. Last year’s Budget was seen as lack-lustre by many since the ruling party came to power on the promise of major reforms, and the announcement fell short of expectations. But it was argued then that the government did not have enough time to come out with comprehensive reforms since they were voted in only in 2014.
Will 2016 be the blockbuster Budget which everyone has been expecting from the Modi government? Will the government further liberalise the economy to unlock the country’s growth potential? Will there be efforts made towards controlling costs and reducing taxes? Will the government increase social sector spending?
We will know the answers by Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, we asked citizens cutting across demographics and professions as to what they expect from the government. Some of them belong to sections which are usually ignored in the media discourse on the Budget. Here’s the wish list of a college professor.
Name: Dr MN Parasuraman
Age: 39
Occupation: Asst. Professor, Government Women College, Thiruvananthapuram
What he wants
The government should spend more on education, because education is key to solvel other problems of the country. Other developed countries spend a huge amount for public education. Private institute cannot create a large scale excellence. Budgetary allocation for public sector education should increase to 6% or 7%.
The government should focus on increasing the number of fellowships and scholarships, and not keep them limited to few institutions. Whether it is Junior Research Fellowship or Senior Research Fellowship, the intake should increase and necessary budgetary allocations made for it. Only 9-10 % of students of age group 19-26 have some scholarship, it should be higher.
Budgetary allocations should be increased in schooling too, to bring them at par with facilities in private schools.