No relief for labourers in Budget: BMS

RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) today said the Union Budget gave relief to neither labourers nor salaried people.
BMS president Saji Narayanan said the organisation had for long been demanding minimum wages for workers in the unorganised sector.
"The budget has totally neglected the voice of the labourers. No relief has been given to them," he said.
He added that the government should have increased the tax exemption limit for salaried people.
"There has been a jump in the the number of income tax filings, but the government rather than reducing tax rates increased the education cess which will adversely impact salaried employees," he said.

He, however, lauded the thrust on farmers and rural areas in the Budget.

Narayanan welcomed the government's decision to start two new initiatives under the Ayushman Bharat Programme.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who presented his fifth straight Union Budget today, announced a new flagship national Health Protection Scheme, providing a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year.
The Scheme will cover 10 crore vulnerable families, with approximately 50 crore beneficiaries.