Former Union Minister, Smt. Daggubati Purandeswari, was a keynote speaker at the workshop

Hyderabad :  The Union Budget 2023 focuses on youth power as one of the seven priorities, referred to as Saptarishi by Finance Minister Sri Nirmala Sitharaman in her presentation speech. Taking this agenda forward, a workshop on the critical analysis of the budget was organised at GITAM (deemed to be University), Visakhapatnam. The workshop aims to sensitise the youth about their role in making Bharat a “Viswa Guru” in the next 25 years.

In her keynote address, former Union Minister, Daggubati Purandeswari said, “The budget document goes beyond the discussion about the government’s revenue and expenditure and seeks to ensure social justice and equality, which reflects the spirit of the Indian Constitution.”

Referring to the next 25 years as the Amrit Kaal, she added, “We achieved our independence 75 years ago. We’ve got another 25 years to reach the hundredth year of independence. It is this period that Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has addressed as Amrit Kaal. Then is it simply a number? In the words of the honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, “It is in these 25 remaining years that we aim to achieve equality, reach the last mile, and bridge the gap between rural and urban India.”

Citing the IMF report on global economic projections, she said, “Post pandemic, Germany is expected to grow at around 1.4%, France is expected to grow around 1.6%, Japan and the UK are expected to grow around 0.9%, and China is expected to grow around 4.5%. “India, as the IMF had said, is expected to grow around 6.8% this year; even if we reduce it by another 0.4%, it would be 6.4%, which is much more than what the developed countries are going to grow at.”

A couple of other schemes that found a mention in her speech include the Mahila Samman Savings Patra, to empower women, the Jan Dhan Yojana, which has brought the banking system closer to the lives of the poor; and the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, to invest in the youth population with a special focus on artificial intelligence, robotics, mechatronics, 3D printing, and drone technology. In her speech, the former minister also touched upon the budget allocation for education and the recruitment of 38,800 teachers for 748 Eklavya schools.

Other speakers included Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council member PNV Madhav, ICWAI – Cost Accountant, who discussed government initiatives to improve scientific rigour in the country, such as Atmanirbhar Bharat.He also commented that the computerisation of (primary cooperative agriculture societies (PCAS) is another initiative that is expected to bring a lot of economic benefit to farmers through the interlinking of different PCAS.

Sharing his expert views, Lanka Dinakar, Member of the Union Budget Committee, Andhra Pradesh, said, “The motto of this budget for 2023–24 is Antyodaya. I would like to use the example of the Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. During the pandemic, the lockdown created a lot of hardships for people. More than 80 crore are among the poorest of the poor who live across the country.This scheme has been providing food grains to such people for the past 32 months, and it has been extended further for another twelve months in this budget.”

In his closing remarks, Mr. Dinakar expressed gratitude to GITAM (deemed to be University) and its president, Mr. M. Sri Bharat, for providing this opportunity, urged students to retain the information

shared during such workshops and persevere in being a part of this Amrit Kaal, which will lead Bharat to the number one position. The panel was facilitated by Prof. Y. Gouthama Rao, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Campus Life, GITAM