Budget 2022-23: Inclusive Development

• 02 Feb 2022

For Prelims: Budget 2022, Inclusive Development, Agriculture, Food Processing, Interlinking of Rivers, Digital Payments, MSME, Skill Development and various Schemes Mentioned in the Budget.

For Mains: Growth & Development, Planning, Government Budgeting, Inclusive Growth, Government Policies & Interventions, Budget 2022, Sector-Wise Analysis.

Why in News?

Recently, the Finance Minister presented the Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament.

• In this section we will discuss the ‘Inclusive Development’ Pillar of the Budget 2022-23.

What is New for Agriculture & Food Processing?

• Agriculture: 
  • Rs. 2.37 lakh crore direct payment to 1.63 crore farmers for procurement of wheat and paddy.
  • Chemical-free Natural Farming will be promoted throughout the country, with a focus on farmers’ lands in 5-km wide corridors along river Ganga, at the first stage.
  • 2023 has been announced as the International Year of Millets. Support will be provided.
  • A comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oilseeds will be implemented.
  • For delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers, a scheme in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode will be launched.
  • NABARD to facilitate funds with blended capital to finance startups for agriculture & rural enterprise.
  • ‘Kisan Drones’ for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients.
• Ken Betwa project:
  • 1400 crore outlay for implementation of the Ken – Betwa link project. 9.08 lakh hectares of farmers’ lands to receive irrigation benefits by Ken-Betwa link project.
  • Draft DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) of five river links, namely Damanganga-Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada, Godavari-Krishna, Krishna-Pennar and Pennar-Cauvery have been finalised.
• Food Processing:
  • For farmers to adopt suitable varieties of fruits and vegetables, and to use appropriate production and harvesting techniques, government will provide a comprehensive package with participation of state governments.

What is there for Industry & Skill Development?

• Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs):
  • Udyam, e-shram, National Career Service and Atma Nirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM) portals to be interlinked.
  • 130 lakh MSMEs provided with additional credit under Emergency Credit Linked Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)
    • ECLGS to be extended up to March 2023. Guarantee cover under ECLGS to be expanded by Rs. 50,000 Crore to total cover of Rs. 5 Lakh Crore.
  • Rs 2 lakh Crore additional credit for Micro and Small Enterprises to be facilitated under the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).
  • Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) programme with outlay of Rs 6000 Crore to be rolled out. This will help the MSME sector become more resilient, competitive and efficient.
• Skill Development:
  • Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood (DESH-Stack e-portal) will be launched to empower citizens to skill, re skill or upskill through on-line training.
  • Startups will be promoted to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ and for Drone-As-A-Service (DrAAS).

What About the Education & Health Sector?

• Education: 
  • ‘One class-One TV channel’ programme of PM eVIDYA to be expanded to 200 TV channels.
  • Virtual labs and skilling e-labs to be set up to promote critical thinking skills and simulated learning environment.
  • High-quality e-content will be developed for delivery through Digital Teachers.
  • Digital University for world-class quality universal education with personalised learning experience to be established.
• Health:
  • An open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem to be rolled out. National Tele Mental Health Programme for quality mental health counselling and care services to be launched.
  • A network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence will be set up, with NIMHANS being the nodal centre and International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) providing technology support.
  • Integrated benefits to women and children through Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0.
    • Two lakh anganwadis to be upgraded to Saksham Anganwadis.

What is there for Upgrading Basic Amenities?

• Har Ghar, Nal Se Jal:
  • Rs. 60,000 crore allocated to cover 3.8 crore households in 2022-23 under Har Ghar, Nal se Jal.
• Housing for All:
  • Rs. 48,000 crore allocated for completion of 80 lakh houses in 2022-23 under PM Awas Yojana.
• Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PMDevINE):
  • New scheme PM-DevINE launched to fund infrastructure and social development projects in the North-East.
  • An initial allocation of Rs. 1,500 crore was made to enable livelihood activities for youth and women under the scheme.
• Vibrant Villages Programme:
  • Border villages with sparse population, limited connectivity and infrastructure often get left out from the development gains. Such villages on the northern border will be covered under the new Vibrant Villages Programme.
  • The activities will include construction of village infrastructure, housing, tourist centres, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralised renewable energy, direct to home access for Doordarshan and educational channels, and support for livelihood generation.

How is the Budget Promoting Digital Payments?

• Anytime – Anywhere Post Office Savings: In 2022, 100% of 1.5 lakh post offices will come on the core banking system enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through net banking, mobile banking, ATMs, and also provides online transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts.
• Digital Banking: It has been proposed to set up 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts of the country by Scheduled Commercial Banks.
• Digital Payments: The financial support for the digital payment ecosystem announced in the previous Budget will continue in 2022-23.

Source: PIB