Budget 2021 will go down in history for a number of firsts including the Finance Minister presenting the first digital Budget and announcing that the eighth census of Independent India will be the first digital census in the history of the country. The Finance Minister allocated ₹3,768 crore for carrying out the census in Budget 2021-22.

In many ways, this announcement takes forward the push that the Narendra Modi government has been giving to digitalisation.

In September last year, Home Minister Amit Shah had announced that the 2021 census will be conducted through a mobile phone application, moving away from the traditional pen and paper to give Digital India a boost.

The nationwide exercise will be carried out in 16 languages, the Home Minister had added.

The census will have its reference date as March 1 this year, but for snow-bound Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it will be October 1, last year, Shah had said.

Commenting on the Budget 2021-22’s push towards digitalisation, Raja Lahiri, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat LLP said as the “Finance Minister presented the first digital budget, it reflected the government’s commitment to digital, technology, innovation and R&D. The adoption of new-age technologies, such as AI and ML, in administration of companies, tax administration and focus on fin-tech, digital payments as well as proposed investment of ₹ 500,000 crore towards National Research Foundation all substantiate the government's endeavor.”

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW