![Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh with a delegation of Assistant Section Officers who called on him at New Delhi. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh with a delegation of Assistant Section Officers who called on him at New Delhi.](https://cdndailyexcelsior.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/page31.jpg)
Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 1: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has described Budget 2017 presented today by Union Minister Arun Jaitley as a budget which is focuses on lower and middle-class.
Speaking to media persons outside the Parliament after the presentation of the Budget, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the notable feature of this year’s Budget is that it has the farmer, the rural poor, the low-income group, the low paid government employee and the youth including young startups as its nucleus. It is truly a budget reflecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s innovative genius, he said.
Dwelling on some of the salient features of the Budget, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the highly imaginative provision providing for personal income tax for people with income in the slab Rs.2.5 to Rs.5 lakh to be reduced to 5% instead of 10%, will on the one hand, encourage an increase in the number of tax payers and on the other hand will also be a relief for relatively lower income groups including low paid government employees. Similarly, he said, the income tax exemption for affordable housing will now be accounted through ‘carpet area’ and not ‘built-up area’, which is also going to be a great relief for the young and middle-class house seekers.
Referring to the two new relaxations introduced under the scheme of ‘Income Tax Holiday’ for Startups which was given last year, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the exemption available for three years out of any seven years will not only ease the burden on young entrepreneurs but will also encourage more and more youngsters to seek self-employment through various means. He also mentioned the additional increase in number of postgraduation medical seats by 5,000 and the provision to transform 1.5 lakh health sub-centres into “Health & Wellness Centres”.
As for rural infrastructure, Dr Jitendra Singh, in particular, mentioned that in the year 2016-17, roads construction rate under “Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana” (PMGSY) 133 km. per day compared to 73 kms. per day in the years before 2014 and complimented Finance Minister for the Rs.19,000 crore earmarked.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Assistant Section Officers called on Dr Jitendra Singh and discussed issues related to their service matters. They also thanked the Modi government for number of employee-friendly decisions taken by it during the last two-and-a-half years. The delegation was led by Sumitra Roy, D.C. Mudgal, Virendra Kumar and others.