Below the line

Presenting the first Budget of the Modi 2.0 government will be the country’s first full-fledged woman Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman. Of course the million-dollar question is will the Budget have her imprint or will it be a continuation of the one presented on February 1?

On June 6 she tweeted: “Grateful for every thought/idea that’s being shared by scholars, economists and enthusiasts through print, electronic, and on social media. I read many of them; also, my team carefully collates them for me. Value every bit. Thanks. Please keep them coming. #Budget2019”.

But, the buzz in the corridors of North Block is that two new Cabinet Committees have been constituted — Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth and Cabinet Committee on Employment & Skill Development. Let us wait and watch. Matter of days only.

With the Union Budget round the corner, the middle and working classes hope that the government arrives at a meaningful Section 80C limit under income tax law which is in tune with the times.

The current limit is abysmally low as tuition fees and few other basic spends exhaust the limit for most middle income taxpayers.

The domestic life insurance industry is also pinning its hopes on the government to introduce dedicated insurance categories under Section 80 C to drive savings into long-term protection products.

If the life insurance industry needs long-term money it will have to come from public savings and tax benefits have to be given, said a top honcho of a private life insurer.

But, will Nirmala Sitharaman see merit in this?

Not enough — This is how a banking industry observer reacted to the latest RBI rate cut. Asked why, pat came the reply: “Incrementalism is passe”. The problem is there is no inclination in the central bank to ‘innovate’ and central banking is more driven by data and past experiences.

The moot question is should past experiences drive current action! The jury is out on this. Till then, the marginal cuts in repo rates may not deliver the desired outcomes.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan is very social media savvy. When he took charge of the ministry, he made sure he posted a video on Twitter of himself cycling to work.

While Vardhan wore no helmet while traversing through the busy streets of central Delhi, the two professionals flanking him were in full protective gear.

On returning home from work, he was chauffeur driven. So much for building good optics on his first day at work.

A surprise entry to the Modi 2.0 cabinet was former diplomat S Jaishankar. Many names were floating around for the External Affairs Minister’s post, but few guessed it right.

So what got Jaishankar the job? “He enjoys a very good relationship with the Prime Minister. This relationship is not limited to his stint as Foreign Secretary but goes back to the days when PM was Gujarat Chief Minister and Jaishankar was posted in China (2012). Jaishankar had played an important role then,” said a birdie.

Cutting a long story short, the birdie chirped “PM trusts him.”

As an opponent said, “Now this is a perfect lateral entry into politics!”

If Hardeep Puri, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, needs another job he could turn to psephology.

“I always said that the BJP would get between 313 and 336 seats. So, in terms of prediction if I need a job tomorrow I will join those chaps who predict election results and I think I would do quite well too,” said Puri at his first press conference after taking charge.

Our Delhi Bureau

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