Kolkata: The Budget speech of interim finance minister Piyush Goyal resembled an election manifesto with the minister reading out a 10-dimensional vision of incumbent dispensation for the next decade.
While the ‘first dimension’ of the ‘Vision’ talked of building physical and social infrastructure for a $10 trillion economy and providing ease of living, mentioning next generation infrastructure of roads, railways, seaports, airports, urban transport, gas and electric transmission and inland waterways, the ‘second dimension’ suggested creating a Digital India reaching every sector of the economy. The third dimension of the Vision will be to make India a pollution free nation. To do that, India will drive on electric vehicles with renewables being a big source of energy.
“Fourth dimension of the Vision is ‘Make in India’ approach to develop grass-roots level clusters, structures and mechanisms encompassing the MSMEs, village industries and start-ups spread in every nook and corner,” the FM said.
The fifth dimension is clean rivers, with safe drinking water to all Indians, sustaining and nourishing life and efficient use of water in irrigation. “Our coastline and our ocean waters powering India’s development and growth is the sixth dimension of our Vision,” he said.
The seventh dimension of the Vision aims at the outer skies with space programme like Gaganyaan, placing an Indian astronaut into space by 2022.
Making India self-sufficient in food is the eighth dimension of the vision.
“A healthy India is the ninth dimension of our Vision,” he added. Finally, the 10th dimension will be to have a responsible bureaucracy.
There is no doubt that many of these or all of these will find places in the election manifesto of the ruling party when the nation goes to polls.
Realising that the ensuing 2019 polls may not be as cake walk as it was in 2014, the Modi government left no stone unturned to woo back its key constituencies through the interim budget, more particularly, the budget speech.
“Expanding rural industrialisation using modern digital technologies to generate massive employment is the Fourth Dimension of our Vision. This will be built upon the Make in India approach to develop grass-roots level clusters, structures and mechanisms encompassing the MSMEs, village industries and start-ups spread in every nook and corner of the country. India is now on the way to becoming a global manufacturing hub in various sectors including automobiles and electronics, defense and medical devices,” said Goyal.
The ‘Vision for the Next decade’ towards the end of Goyal’s budget speech, attempted to touch upon all key growth areas. He said that making India a pollution free nation with green Mother Earth and blue skies is the Third Dimension of their Vision. This India will drive on Electric Vehicles with Renewables becoming a major source of energy supply. India will lead the world in the transport revolution through electric vehicles and energy storage devices, bringing down import-dependence and ensuring energy security for our people.
Then the Fifth Dimension of the government’s Vision for India of 2030 is Clean Rivers, with safe drinking water to all Indians, sustaining and nourishing life and efficient use of water in irrigation using micro-irrigation techniques.
India's long coastline has the potential of becoming the strength of the economy, particularly through exploitation of the Blue Economy, to ensure better standards and quality of life for a large number of people living in the coastal areas. Therefore the Modi government promised to scale up the Sagarmala programme and to develop other inland waterways faster.
Reflecting another dimension of its vision, Goyal said that India’s space programme – Gaganyaan will ensure that India becomes the launch-pad of satellites for the World and the country would place an Indian astronaut into space by 2022.
The acting finance minister said that vision aims at transforming India into a Minimum Government Maximum Governance nation, so that India of 2030 has a proactive and responsible bureaucracy which will be viewed as friendly to people.
