The discussion on the Union Budget 2024-25, which was presented on July 23, will continue in both Houses of Parliament on Thursday. Additionally, the discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Budget for 2024-25, also presented on Tuesday, will proceed today. Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Kirtivardhan Singh will lay various papers on the table. Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar is expected to provide a status update on the implementation of recommendations from the 250th report of the Home Affairs parliamentary committee and the 243rd report on demands for grants for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.
On July 24, both Houses of Parliament began discussions on the Union Budget 2024, with opposition parties criticizing it as “discriminatory” and lacking vision. Former Finance Minister and Congress MP P. Chidambaram initiated the debate in the Rajya Sabha, while Congress MP Kumari Selja did so in the Lok Sabha.
Chidambaram highlighted four major challenges, with unemployment being the most significant. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate for June 2024 is 9.2 percent. He emphasized that creating sufficient employment opportunities is the primary economic challenge. He pointed out that the employment-linked incentives (ELI) scheme indicates that the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme is not generating the expected employment. He urged the finance minister to reveal the number of jobs created by the PLI scheme.
BJP’s Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal praised the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over the past decade, particularly highlighting the Jan Dhan Yojana, which has provided banking services to millions. BJP’s Biplab Kumar Deb mentioned the Economic Survey’s real GDP growth estimate of 6.5 to 7 percent for 2024-25 and noted budget provisions for farmers and the education sector.
Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee criticized the budget, claiming it lacks clarity and vision and was designed to satisfy BJP coalition partners. He alleged that it “was planned by two individuals to keep another two in good faith.”
The budget session of Parliament, which began on July 22, is scheduled to end on August 12.