Synopsis A recent study shows that those above 61 years are joining MGNREGA for their source of livelihood (a sign of desperation in the face of fewer avenues for employment). Yet, they (the central government) have cut down MGNREGA from Rs 89,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore (almost by a third). The Budget is sending a signal that we do not care for you and you better find some other source of livelihood. ET Online She also highlighted that a national data governance policy will be brought out to unleash innovation and research by startups. Amit Mitra , former finance minister of Bengal and well-known economist on Wednesday expressed disappointment that the Union Budget , did not address the issues of tackling unemployment and rising inflation, the two main problems facing the "common man. " Mitra, who is currently Principal Chief Adviser to West Bengal Chief Minister, told PTI in an interview charged that the Budget despite its promise to allow states to borrow more for infrastructure expenditure was giving a go-by to the concept of federalism by not transferring promised resources to the states. Experts from the interview: Q: What is your biggest takeaway from this year's Union Budget? A: It does not address the issues of the common man. The very first point is unemployment - You have about 3. 7 crore people unemployed in the country. The Budget has not addressed the issue. It has not even mentioned the word unemployment in the budget. Budget 2023 Budget 2023: Key announcements & highlights View: The three key messages of Budget 2023 I-T Slabs in Budget 2023 Explained: What taxpay. . . Union Budget 2023: What gets cheaper, what gets. . . Budget 2023-24: Where is the govt spending more. . . 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A: What's interesting is (actual monetary) transfers to the states. That was pegged Rs 3. 34 lakh crore in the last budget. However, till November, they (the central government) had transferred Rs 1. 41 lakh crore. Almost half the money promised still remains to be transferred to the states. That relates to what you call federalism ! Similarly we see states' activities are being hijacked and made look like Centre's work. For example, the Self-Help Groups (SHGs), the PM mentioned it in his post-Budget speech. The number of SHGs in West Bengal when Mamata Banerjee-government came into office was approximately one lakh. Now, the state worked very hard for 10 years and got 11. 55 lakh SHGs connected with the banks. This work has been done by the state government, and this constitutes 14 per cent of the nation's SHGs, (yet) now, I hear in the Budget about SHGs from the central government! This is typically (a way of) . . . taking away the credit from the states. Q. The government has spoken of the ease of doing business . . . A. The MSMEs (Micro, small and medium enterprises) unable to cope with this so-called ease of doing business (in tackling the red tape connected with GST tax which is imposed on industry) are beginning to exit GST (regime) and becoming informal sector businesses. Not a word has been said about the unorganised sector. The sector employs 93 per cent of the labour force of the country. They were badly hit during the demonetisation. The supply chain of which they were a part was absolutely broken. What does this budget have for this sector ? Q. The middle class got some tax relief . . . ? A. As far as the middle class is concerned, Rs 5-7 lakh threshold rise in terms of tax rebate has been given, but then the tax rebates which people got from 80C, 80D sections of the income tax act, etc. , (tax rebates for saving, paying house rent, medical insurance) have all been taken away in the new tax regime. All possible hedges to legally try to keep your income to yourself have been taken away. So, the whole budget thrust is mythical in nature. This budget is visionless. There are no macro-economics in this Budget. Don’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp. click here! Thursday, 02 Feb, 2023 Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! Read Complete Print Edition » Front Page Taxpayer Disruption Investor More FM Delivers Balanced Budget, Minus Freebies The budget achieves the hat-trick of greatly boosting capital spending, slashing taxes, and reducing the fiscal deficit. Budget Envisages PM’s Vision of Amrit Kaal The resolve to see India as a global superpower during the 'Amrit Kaal' is no castle in the air, as it might sound to naysayers. Adani Enterprises Cancels FPO, to Refund Investors Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) unexpectedly called off its ₹20,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO) on Wednesday evening, a day after the company closed the offer successfully. Read More News on Amit Mitra union budget ashok mitra gst mgnrega west bengal (Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times . ) Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News. . . . more less ETPrime stories of the day Real Estate Interest rates are rising, so are rental yields. Is it the right time to invest in property? 8 mins read 3 insights to kick-start your day, featuring Swiggy’s “poor judgement” 3 mins read Strategy Stock Radar: Technical charts suggest HDFC Bank is likely to hit fresh record highs in next 3-6 months; time to buy? 3 mins read Subscribe to ETPrime.