Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi, on the 8th of February, organised a panel discussion on the Union Budget for the financial year 2021-22 at Fr. Michael Van den Bogaert S.J Auditorium. The Union Budget was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 01 and XISS faculty members discussed the details of the Budget in policy like New Education Policy and sectors like health, education, finance, agriculture, education etc.

The panel discussion began with Dr. Ramakant Agrawal, Head PGDM(Human Resource Management) setting the tone for the elaborate discourse of the event expressed his views by drawing attention to how the FY22 Budget has given a short shift to the objective of fiscal consolidation and macroeconomic stability. It is big on privatisation, capital expenditure, and health, but stingy on social sector expenditure like MGNREGS, School and Higher Education, Rural Development.

Dr. Joseph Marianus Kujur S.J., Director, XISS highlighted the neglect of STs/SCs in Budget 2021 despite promises made of an inclusive budget for aspirational India, there is marginalisationof STs/SCs in budgetary allocations. The ‘Aatmanirbhar’ concept is self-contradictory with disinvestment of PSUs. Rampant privatization is a danger sign for SCs/STs as it will further deplete job opportunities for them and make the Reservations Policy defunct.

Furthermore, Dr. Himadri Sinha, Head, PGDM (Rural Management) stated that this year’s budget announcements for Agriculture, Irrigation and Rural Development sound more rhetoric. No clear indications have been given for sector specific allocation.

Dr. Anant Kumar, Associate Professor, Programme of Rural Management, XISS, talked about the health sector of the Budget 2021-22 and reflected how the Government’s focus on health, water and sanitation, and nutrition in the budget speech is promising and raises hopes but the allocations are much less than required to strengthen the overall health system and infrastructure.

Dr. Pooja, Assistant Professor, Programme of Marketing Management, XISS, talked about the Union Budget 2021-22 pursuant to NEP 2020, has brought clarity on its implementation and the collaboration with foreign partners for skill development, setting up of National Digital Educational Architecture, etc., shall help in addressing new age requirements.

Dr. Ratnesh Chaturvedi, Professor, Programme of Financial Management, XISS, drew the focus on how the Budget 2021-22 prioritises spending to address immediate needs. He also commented on how Privatisation and efforts to minimize fiscal deficit from better tax administration is the path to boost growth and investments in India.

Dr. Rik Das, Assistant Professor, Programme of Information Technology, XISS, talked about how the Budget 2021-22 is lauded by the Tech Industries and the vision of the Government on digitalisation. The budget reflects the “pro-growth” vision of the Government with emphasis on digital automation, gig economy while setting up Fintech hub and National Natural Language Translation Missions.

The session concluded with a vote of thanks presented by Dr. Ramakant Agarwal.

XISS Ranchi has announced admission for its 2-year PGDM Information Technology (IT) program for the 2021-23 batch. The Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) is a heritage of Ranchi which is more than 500 years old. The institute is managed and operated by the Society of Jesus – more popularly known as the “Jesuits”. The last date to apply is February 10, 2021. Candidates can apply online at https://bit.ly/3p3kpE3