'Vision-setting Budget for Viksit Bharat'

A day after presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25, Finance Minister NIRMALA SITHARAMAN spoke to Shrimi Choudhary, Ruchika Chitravanshi, Asit Ranjan Mishra & Nivedita Mookerji on issues ranging from the private sector's role in job creation to coalition needs in making Budgets, at her North Block office.

- Shrimi Choudhary, Ruchika Chitravanshi, Asit Ranjan Mishra & Nivedita Mookerji

Was the seventh Budget your toughest yet?

Can't say this was the toughest. In the July 2019 Budget, I hardly had any time to prepare as it was the start of the month. This time, the letter and spirit of the vote on account had to be subsumed in the Budget, and a lot of additions were made.

But this is the first time you have had to deal with the challenges of a coalition...

I did not feel any additional burden. There is challenge each time, in each Budget. We did Budget-making during Covid-19. What can be more difficult than that? These states (coalition partners) are also working for the welfare of their people. If you are saying the Budget was coalitiondriven, the answer is no. Isn't Bihar part of India?

What was the broad vision influencing this Budget?

What Rashtrapati ji had said was right. The PM also said on the day of the Economic Survey that this had to be a vision-setting Budget for Viksit Bharat. That was clearly before me, hence the emphasis on what we call the four castes women, youth, farmers and the poor. The stream of the Budget flows through these four pillars.

Coming to employment and internship, how would you ensure that the issues the private sector might raise are addressed?

There's no compulsion.

Yes, it's voluntary, but still there could be discretionary issues like bureaucratic interventions...

No, there's no bureaucratic intervention. The Congress may talk about copy-paste schemes, but please understand that we apply our minds when we design a scheme. I'm not enshrining it as a right. As the central government, we have the convening powers to nudge people towards it (job creation, internship).

Can you elaborate?