The country's current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is in the final stages of presenting the budget. She will present the budget this Friday. This is the first budget of the Modi government 2.0 after the bumper victory, so people have high hopes too.
People are hopeful that the Finance Minister will take steps that will improve the health of the economy and also bring relief to the common man. The finance minister has joined several veteran officials in the country in preparing the budget. Here's her team member's list.
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The budget is very important in terms of the Indian economy as the Finance Minister faces many challenges to the economy. There are sluggish conditions in the economy, which can turn into a recession if not handled properly. According to the Economic Times, six veteran officials have mainly helped the finance minister in budgeting. The advice of these veterans must have certainly been of great use to the finance minister.
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1. K. K. Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA): He holds a PhD from Financial Economics, led by Professor Luigi Jingles and Raghuram Rajan from the University of Chicago, U.S.A. He will also present his first economic survey on Thursday. His advice to address the sluggishness of the economy must have worked hard for Sitharaman in budgeting.
2. Subhash Garg, Secretary for Finance and Economic Affairs: The old players of the Ministry of Finance are used to walking on the fast rope that is facing many challenges in the Garg economy. In the event of lower growth rates, declining consumption, declining private investment, how to take measures to maintain fiscal consolidation, Garg's advice may be of use.
3. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary: After showing skills in the Unique Identification Authority, which realizes the Aadhaar card project, it is now to be seen what Ajay Bhushan leaves on the revenue front. Will technology be expanded to increase tax revenue and increase the convenience of taxpayers? The sluggish economy needed to raise government spending, so the challenge before them was quite difficult. The budget will reveal what they've suggested.
4. G.C. Murmu, Expenditure Secretary: Gujarat cadre IAS officer Murmu has previously worked in the Department of Financial Services and Revenue. He specializes in implementing the plans. The challenge before him was to carry forward the prime minister's favourite plans altogether and curb spending.
5. Rajiv Kumar, Secretary, Department of Financial Services: Rajiv Kumar has been instrumental in working on several key agendas of the Modi government such as mergers of public banks, curbing bad debts, etc. Right now there is also a responsibility to merge insurance companies into their accounts and improve public banks. One has to see how their advice comes out in the budget.
6. Atanu Chakraborty, DIPAM Secretary: This IAS officer of the 1985 batch Gujarat cadre helped the government to meet the disinvestment target last year. He had given many unique bits of advice. Still, the important agenda of selling public companies' stakes is before them. The Finance Minister must have helped a lot in this matter with his advice.