RSS, its affiliate term budget ‘well-balanced’ for post-Covid recovery, demand crypto ban

New Delhi, Feb 1: The RSS on Tuesday hailed the budget as “well-balanced” which was needed for post-Covid recovery while its affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch suggested that after taxing cryptocurrency, the government should move towards banning it.

Senior RSS functionary Ram Madhav said a ‘Digital Budget’ has been announced by rolling out of 5G and taxing digital assets.

He also praised Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for overcoming naysayers and announcing the Reserve Bank India will introduce a digital rupee to boost the digital economy and for better currency management.

“The budget has also announced support to the states by way of the availability of advances to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore that will help states in racing ahead with the Centre,” Madhav said.

“Overcoming the temptation of a ‘popular’ budget in election season, the finance minister comes out with a well-balanced budget strongly needed for post-Covid recovery giving a much-needed boost to infrastructure, healthcare and MSME sectors,” he said.

Similar sentiments were echoed by RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch, with its co-convener Ashwani Mahajan praising the government for focussing more on domestic investment rather than prioritising only on foreign direct investment (FDI).

“It is good to see that there is not much mention of FDI in the finance minister’s speech and the government has taken much-needed steps for rationalising the policies for domestic investors,” he said.

About cryptocurrency, Mahajan said, “Taxing it is a welcome step and now the government should move towards banning it. The decision to come up with digital currency issued by RBI is also praiseworthy.”

In her Budget Speech, Sitharaman has proposed the tax on income generated at the sale of any digital asset without any deductions, amid a growing proliferation of assets like Bitcoin even as the regulatory structure on them remains unclear. (PTI)