'Our track record speaks for us we don't need populism'

After presenting her sixth budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke to Doordarshan and talked about how the interim budget's lack of election-fuelled populism is built on the government's 10-year track record of delivering growth.

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In the course of preparing the budget, you have laid down a roadmap for a developed India. What are the key takeaways you intended for us?

This process started before 8 October, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation from Red Fort (on 15 August). We believe ‘Amrit Kaal’ as ‘Kartavya Kaal’ as well. For Viksit Bharat 2047, there have been comprehensive deliberations on what steps need to be taken. We have identified four major castes as priorities for development—women, poor, farmers and the youth. If we can fulfil the aspirations of all of them, they will progress, and because of that the country will also grow. This, in short, is what we have tried to say in the budget. To make this happen, we have devised various schemes, some of which were already present and some are new. For the country to progress, we are also encouraging innovation, which will play an important role. These will be shared in detail in the July budget.

There is little or no populism in your budget. What is the thought behind such a bold move with the budget ahead of the general election?

Our President, in her speech in the opening of the session for this calendar year, talked about 10 years of substantial systemic reforms and taking the route of empowering people and not going by entitlement. That is why when people have access to houses and electricity and you also have money coming through direct benefit transfer (DBT), you financially empower them and make sure that opportunities are given. So, the mantras that we used, whether it was ‘