Congress claims in the Budget electoral promise and includes an internship program
Congress also finds similarities between the budget and the promises made in its platform about women’s hostels, angel taxes, and job incentive programs.
The first Budget of the third Narendra Modi government was revealed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and the Congress wasted no time in drawing comparisons with the pledges made in its Lok Sabha election campaign.
Apart from the Budget’s promise of three employment-linked projects, the most notable was the declaration made by the government concerning a scheme to provide internship chances to “1 crore youth in 500 top companies over five years.”
Rahul Gandhi marketed the Congress manifesto’s “right to apprenticeship programme” as the catchy “pehli naukri pakki (guaranteed first job)” program during his campaign rallies. The Congress declared that under the “Right to Apprenticeship Act,” any diploma holder or college graduate under 25 would be guaranteed a one-year apprenticeship with a private or public sector enterprise, with an annual salary of Rs 1 lakh.
According to the Congress manifesto, “the apprenticeship will impart skills, enhance employability, and provide full-time job opportunities for millions of youth.”
After Sitharaman revealed the internship programme, the opposition party, which feels it has the Modi government on the defensive because the Lok Sabha results left it short of a majority, reacted quickly.
The Finance Minister has definitely taken a cue from the INC’s Nyay Patra 2024, as the program for internships is directly modeled after the INC’s proposed Pehli Naukri Pakki Apprenticeship Program. Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh stated, “However, in keeping with their signature style, the scheme has been designed to grab headlines, with arbitrary targets (1 crore internships) rather than a programmatic guarantee for all diploma holders and graduates, as the Indian National Congress had envisioned.”
“Create a new employment-linked incentive (ELI) Scheme for corporates” was another pledge made to Congress. “The Production-Linked Incentives (PLI) plan will be reformed by the Congress to focus on particular industries that have the potential to generate thousands of employment by positioning India among the top 5 producers globally in that industry. In place of regular, high-quality jobs, we will create a new employment-linked incentive (ELI) scheme that would allow corporations to receive tax credits for recruiting more employees.
Three employment-linked programs were unveiled by Sitharaman, one of which will see the government pay new hires in all industries one month’s salary. The second program will provide incentives for more manufacturing jobs, contingent on the hiring of new workers.
An incentive regarding the EPFO contribution during the first four years of employment will be given directly to the company and employee at a predetermined scale. The minister stated that the third program will provide for more jobs across all industries and that it is anticipated that 30 lakh youth would profit from it as well as their employers.
She said, “All additional employment within a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month will be counted,” and added that companies would get up to Rs 3,000 per month for two years in reimbursement for their additional employees’ EFPO contributions from the government.
The Congress platform also mentioned a different government pledge to establish working women’s hostels in order to encourage women to enter the workforce. The Congress manifesto had stated, “In collaboration with state governments, the Central government will double the number of working women hostels in the nation, with at least one Savitribai Phule Hostel in each district.”
Sitharaman also suggested eliminating the angel tax for all investor categories. The same pledge had been made in the Congress manifesto. “We intend to eradicate the ‘Angel tax’ and any other exploitative tax policies that impede investments in nascent, micro, and small businesses,” the statement stated.
Ramesh made note of this and continued, saying: “The bureaucratic behemoth established by the non-biological Prime Minister’s Government was to be replaced by the Good and Simple Tax, or GST 2.0, as suggested by the Indian National Congress. Consumers, industry associations, State Governments, and MSME organizations all concur that this is a very popular need. Apart from a general remark, the Finance Minister has not committed to putting it into effect. However, it is encouraging that the Finance Minister has given in to the Indian National Congress’s demand to remove the Angel Tax, which has discouraged investment in India’s start-ups, according to Ramesh.
The Congress also perceived Sitharaman’s declaration that the Central government will establish a critical mining mission to conduct domestic mineral exploration, recycle minerals, and acquire essential mineral assets abroad as a manifestation of its commitment in the manifesto.
“To explore and mine rare earths and critical minerals, with the object of increasing the share of mining to 5 per cent of the GDP and creating 1.5 crore jobs for unskilled and skilled workers in mineral-rich states,” was one of the promises made in the Congress platform.
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