Sitharaman Plays A Winning Knock
==========

Nirmala Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, delivered her sixth and final budget speech to the Lok Sabha. The budget focused on infrastructure and fiscal consolidation, with no populist measures ahead of the general elections. Key announcements included increasing the target of Self-Help Groups beneficiaries to three crore, bringing anganwadi and ASHA workers under the Ayushman umbrella, improving health infrastructure, expanding the Awas Yojana to build two crore rural homes, and introducing a new scheme for housing. The budget also included a Rs 1 lakh crore fund for financing tech research, with interest-free loans for 50 years, and a scheme for deep-tech innovation in the defence sector. Sitharaman's tenure as Finance Minister saw the economy navigate through major disruptions, including the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. She focused on vulnerable groups, implemented the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme, and boosted central government capex on infrastructure. Sitharaman has been praised for maintaining fiscal discipline and is rumored to present a full budget in July and contest the Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu.

#NirmalaSitharaman #Budget #Infrastructure #FiscalConsolidation #GeneralElections #Women #MiddleClass #Technology #Research #Innovation #AtmanirbharBharat #FiscalDiscipline

https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/sitharaman-plays-a-winning-knock