Budget Expectations from Pruthvi Nanjappa, VP – Human Resources, Ness Software Engineering Services (SES)

There is a strong sense of optimism in the job market and the economy seems to be on the upswing. I expect the budget to boost the job sector and hiring to pick up significantly across sectors and industries. India’s GDP growth is projected to rise to 6.5% in 2015-16, and this will imply good news for job seekers at all levels, especially freshers. There is a lot of expectation from this government and I feel the initiatives and reforms that will be announced should positively impact jobs. During the last budget, the government laid emphasis on startups, which is really a shot in the arm for entrepreneurs, job seekers, as well as cities like Bangalore that provide a sound startup ecosystem. I expect more focus on startups, as well as on sectors like IT/ITeS that employ millions. I think we also need more clarity on issues like taxation, and incentives to ease the process of doing business. Moreover, I feel there should be tax rebates given for investing in skills training, since upgradation of skills is a necessity for industries that are constantly on the lookout for talent to fuel growth.

To boost the job sector, I think the government should introduce life and medical cover for all salaried employees who are also tax payers. A graded approach should be announced-whereby those paying more tax should be entitled to higher coverage. Moreover, there should be an introduction of insurance for salaried employees (who are also tax payers) to cover for instances of unplanned termination of jobs.  Measures like these will help in drastically reducing anxiety and stress amongst our workforce.

Topping my list of expectations this Budget is the introduction of life and medical insurance coverage for all salaried employees who are tax payers. Today there is no social security other than the PF contribution, and some tax exemptions. The government needs to take certain responsibility towards citizens who earn an income and are also tax payers.

All salaried people who are tax payers should be covered for instances of redundancy or unplanned termination of their jobs. If an employee is deemed redundant, it implies that the job he or she was doing is no longer required. Today it’s nowhere mandated to provide coverage for either redundancy or sudden termination of employment. I earnestly feel that coverages for life, medical and redundancy should be somewhere built into the budget.

Section 35CCD of the Income Tax Act, 1961, mentions that if companies are investing in skill development, the company will be entitled to a higher weighted deduction of this expenditure. The notification issued so far, does not include IT companies in its coverage. I feel that IT companies should be included under the scope of this provision as it will encourage IT firms to invest more in skill development, which in turn will help to achieve the objective of Digital India and Smart Indian Cities.

Today we have maximum income tax of 30%. But there is surcharge on education cess which takes the maximum tax bracket to 33%. This should be brought down to 30%, so that some people get a 3% rebate.