WHITHER AMRIT KAAL

The Union Budget 2022-23 did not talk about the developmental targets promised for this year under the Strategy for New India@75, but set the country on a new journey of hope till 2047

- RICHARD MAHAPATRA, KIRAN PANDEY, SHAGUN, AKSHIT SANGOMLA, ANUMITA ROYCHOWDHURY

THE UNION Budget 2022-23 was anything but what a budget should be. It gave a grand idea of the future, but not much of this intent was translated into monetary provisions. After Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ended her speech—her shortest so far—on the floor of Parliament, a phrase she repeatedly used trended on social media: amrit kaal, which loosely translates to “era of elixir”. “This Budget seeks to lay the foundation and give a blueprint to steer the economy over the amrit kaal of the next 25 years—from India at 75 to India at 100, said Sitharaman in her speech. With this preamble, one can only read or analyse the budget in future terms, which themselves have not been defined.

Expectations from this budget were already fuelled by the promise of a New India” in 2022 or India@75”. 2022 is the year the government is due to fulfil the promises defined in the NITI Aayog's “Strategy for New India@75 announced in 2018. From becoming a US $4 trillion economy to generating employment for women, doubling farmers' income and eradicating poverty, there are some 41 targets under this strategy, of which at least 17 have a deadline in 2022.

But according to an analysis of all government data, published in Down To Earth's “State of India's Environment 2022” report, the country is likely to miss nearly all the targets because of slow progress. Thus, the Union Budget 2022-23 and the Economic Survey 2021-22 were eagerly awaited to understand where the country stood.