New Delhi: The Union Budget 2023, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, allocated Rs 25,448.75 crore for the Women and Child Development Ministry for the year 2023-24. This is an increase of Rs 267 core from Budget 2022-23, which allotted Rs 25,172 crore, NDTV reported.
Sitharaman also announced the proposal of the ‘Mahila Samman Saving Certificate’, which would tender a fixed interest rate of 7.5 per cent for two years.
The deposit must be made in the name of a woman or girl child, and the maximum deposit is limited to Rs 2 lakh, with a partial withdrawal facility.
The Budget 2023 is boasted to be having the biggest hike in capital spending in the past ten years, and the Finance Minister claimed that the fiscal deficit would fall next year.
The “seven priorities” the Budget adopted were inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector. It is supposed to lead India through the ‘Amrit Kaal’.
Praising the Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that it would place a strong foundation in building a developed India. He said that the Budget prioritises the deprived and is going to fulfil the dreams of India’s aspirational society, the farmers and the middle class.
For the BJP-led Union government, the current Budget is significant since it is the last full Budget they present before the 2024 general elections. Finance Minister Sitharaman presented her fifth Budget since 2019, NDTV writes.