Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation has lauded the ten point vision for the decade announced in the Union Budget 2019-20 encompassing all aspects of holistic development. The Budget provides the necessary inputs to realize the vision given in the Economic Survey and will boost investment. The Budget outlined several steps to attain $ 3 Trillion economy in the current year. The Budget is well structured and focuses on interventions in both rural and urban areas for a more inclusive growth. He added that creation of payment platform for MSMEs, the PM Karam Yogi Maan Dhan Scheme and the Interest Subvention Scheme will further boost the MSME sector, thereby creating more jobs and foster formalization of the economy.

He further mentioned that the Budget has also addressed the participation of women in the economy by moving the focus from women-centric-policy making to women-led initiatives recognizing their contribution in Nation building and extending the benefits to SHGs. This will simultaneously bring a better balance in gender disparity. He also added that the Government’s focus of developing infrastructure and its emphasis on education, agriculture and allied areas will facilitate India’s march towards a progressive sustainable economy. The digital push to the economy by way of leveraging technology will boost the availability of data as a public good to the people.

Fiscal policy drives inclusive growth through MSME support, women-led initiatives and expanded digital governance measures. Union Budget 2019-20 advances a fiscal policy agenda to promote sustainable, equitable and investment-led growth through targeted measures: a payment platform for MSMEs, pension and interest subvention schemes to strengthen MSME credit access and formalization, and initiatives intended to create jobs. The Budget shifts toward women-led initiatives and extends benefits to self-help groups to address gender disparity. It prioritizes infrastructure, education, agriculture and allied sectors and promotes digital adoption to make data a public good supporting governance and program delivery.