Piyush Goyal speaks on the interim Budget 2024
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal congratulated Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting an interim Budget that gave a strong vision of development for the country. He said no government department has to wait for funds, or face lack of funds, and acknowledged the Centre's work on ensuring "no section is starved of funds".
The interim Budget may be thinner than the full Budget, keeping in line with convention in a year of the general election, but it still packs a punch in charting the course of India's plans for faster growth, Mr Goyal told NDTV today.
He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for starting schemes and programmes for women since the day he became Prime Minister in 2014. These schemes have had a cumulative effect on the welfare of women, Mr Goyal said.
"PM Modi started the Jan Dhan Yojana for people who never had a bank account. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana to release women from smoke chulas has seen massive success. I remember going to my grandmother's house ages ago. The whole day we would inhale smoke, like smoking 400 cigarettes a day. This is an experience the poor no longer have to suffer," Mr Goyal said.
"We built 11 crore toilets. Nobody before us ever said women deserved the dignity of having a toilet... Each of these has had a transformational impact in the lives of women. Every woman we teach, every woman who enters formal work, their contribution to the economy is huge," he said.
"We have three crore lakhpati didis... Look at ISRO. Many projects are led by women researchers and scientists," he added.
Mr Goyal said under the Modi government, the youth are getting more opportunities, women are getting respect, farmers are getting better income and productivity, and the poor are coming out of poverty.
"This budget builds upon the strong foundation of what will take India on the path to being a developed nation," the Union Minister said.
Among other announcements, Ms Sitharaman said the government will encourage vaccination against cervical cancer for girls in the 9-14 age group, and healthcare cover under the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme will be extended to all ASHA and Anganwadi workers and helpers.