Economic development for all entails giving more space to private sector for higher productivity: Union Budget

The economic development for all, which is one of the three prominent themes of the Union Budget, entails pervasive economic reforms and yielding more space to the private sector to ensure higher productivity and greater efficiency.

With the central tenet of Ease of Living, the union budget is woven around three prominent themes -- aspirational India, economic development for all and caring society, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech.

She said in aspirational India all sections of the society seek better standards of living, with access to health, education and better jobs. Its components are agriculture, irrigation and rural development, wellness, water and sanitation, education and skills," it said.

Economic Development for all, indicated in the exhortation of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas" entails pervasive economic reforms and yielding more space for the private sector to ensure higher productivity and greater efficiency. Its components are industry, commerce and investment, infrastructure and the New Economy, she said.

A Finance Ministry release said a caring society is based on Antyodaya, which is both humane and compassionate. Its components include women and child, social welfare, culture and tourism and environment and climate change.

Sitharaman said the three broad themes are held together by a corruption-free, policy-driven good governance and a clean and sound financial sector.

She said the budget has been presented in the backdrop of two cross-cutting developments - a proliferation of technologies like Machine Learning, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, Bio-Informatics and the highest ever cohort of productive age population (15-65 years).

Consequently, the digital revolution has placed India in a unique leadership position globally.

She said the government aims to achieve seamless delivery of services through digital governance, improve the physical quality of life through National Infrastructure Pipeline, mitigate risks through disaster resilience and boost social security through pension and insurance penetration.

The Finance Minister also said that the Union Budget 2020-21 reflects the government's commitment to substantially boost investment in agriculture, infrastructure, social sector, education and health.

"This is substantiated by an increase in expenditure of Rs 3,43,678 crore over revised estimates (2019-20) while keeping the fiscal deficit at 3.8 per cent of GDP," she added.