Budget 2019 empowers all sections of society, a 'trailer' before Lok Sabha polls: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the interim budget touches all sections of the society and includes everyone, asserting that it is a merely a "trailer" of what will guide India towards prosperity after the Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI Photo

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the interim budget touches all sections of the society and includes everyone, asserting that it is a merely a "trailer" of what will guide India towards prosperity after the Lok Sabha polls. "This is an Interim Budget. This is just a trailer of the budget which, after elections, will take India on the path to development," he said. In his remarks after the interim budget was presented in Parliament, Modi said it empowers people and referred to a host of budgetary announcements and schemes to drive home his point. More than 12 crore farmers, three crore middle class families and 30-40 crore workers employed in unorganised sector will benefit from the budget, he said, adding that poverty has been falling at a record rate due to the efforts of his government. "From middle class to labourers, from farmers’ growth to the development of businessmen, from manufacturing to MSME sector, from growth of the economy to development of New India, everyone has been taken care of in this interim budget," Modi said.

This is a #BudgetForNewIndia and for all Indians. Watch my take. https://t.co/eAsPXMk1Dr

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 1, 2019

"It is generosity and honesty of the middle and the upper middle class which provide tax to the nation through which schemes are formulated and there is welfare of poor. There was always the demand to exempt those, with annual income upto Rs 5 Lakh, from taxation. Our government has fulfilled this," he added. This budget will boost the efforts of 130 crore citizens in realising the goal of a new India, Modi said.