Budget Expenditure on SC/OBC

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment 

Budget Expenditure on SC/OBC 

As informed by the Planning Commission, it has issued guidelines on scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) in the year 2006, to Central Ministries/ Departments with the basic objective to channelize the flow of outlays and benefits from the general sectors in the plan of central Ministries / Departments for the development of Scheduled Castes at least in proportion to their population both in physical and financial terms. The objective of the SCSP is to bridge the gap between Scheduled Castes and others through accelerating the development of Schemduled Castes. 

No such proposal in respect of other Backward Classes is under consideration of the Government. 

The Planning Commission had set up a Task force in June, 2010, to review the operational difficulties in implementation of SCSP. The Task Force had, inter-alia, recommended differential earmarking of funds under SCSP by central Ministries/Departments. To give effect to the strategy for effective implementation of SCSP adopted in the 12th Five Year Plan, an Inter-Ministerial Committee was constituted by the Planning Commission during 2013, which inter-alia, has recommended certain modification in the implementation of SCSP guidelines. Based on these recommendations, the Planning Commission has issued letter to all the Central Ministries/Departments, identified for earmarking outlays for SCSP, to inter-alia estimate gaps, prioritise development needs of the SCs and orient the Schemes to bridge the gaps. The Schemes designed under SCSP should yield direct and quantifiable benefits to SC individuals, SC household and SC habitations. The funds so earmarked shall be non-divertible. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Sudarshan Bhagat in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here today. 

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Benefit from the Income Tax sops announced by the Government..?

Benefit from the Income Tax sops announced by the Government..?

In the 2014-15 Budget that was presented recently, it was announced that the income tax exemption slab will be being raised from Rs. 2 lakhs per annum to Rs. 2.5 lakhs.

On July 10, during the parliamentary session, while presenting  the budget for the year 2014-15, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the non-taxable income slab for individual tax payers has been raised from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 2.5 lakhs. Also, the maximum tax exemption of Rs. 1 lakh Under Section 80C has been raised to Rs. 1.5 lakh. Interest deductions on home loan have been increased from Rs. 1.5 lakhs to Rs. 2 lakhs.

Let us now make approximate calculations about the kinds of benefits that taxpayers stand to get from these changes:

Raising the non-taxable income limit from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 2.5 lakhs gives a maximum tax savings of Rs. 5600 additionally.

Since the maximum tax exemption under Section 80C has been raised to Rs. 1.5 lakhs, the tax payer gets to save Rs. 17,000 under certain exemption categories.

Since the maximum exemption under home loan deduction has been raised from Rs. 1.5 laksh to Rs. 2 lakhs, the taxpayer saves another 17,000.

Upto Rs. 2,50,000
Rs. 2,50,001 to Rs. 5,00,000	10 per cent.
Rs. 5,00,001 to Rs. 10,00,000	20 per cent.
Above Rs. 10,00,000	30 per cent.

(ii)  For persons of Age between 60 Years to 80 Years

Upto Rs. 3,00,000
Rs. 3,00,001 to Rs. 5,00,000	10 per cent.
Rs. 5,00,001 to Rs. 10,00,000	20 per cent.
Above Rs. 10,00,000	30 per cent.

(iii)  For persons having Age of 80 Years or More

Upto Rs. 5,00,000
Rs. 5,00,001 to Rs. 10,00,000	20 per cent.
Above Rs. 10,00,000	30 per cent.

.

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General Budget 2014 -15: Government Reiterates Its Commitment to the Welfare of SCs & STs

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance 

Government Reiterates Its Commitment to the Welfare of SCs & STs 

The Central Government has said that it is committed to the welfare of SCs and STs and this year an amount of Rs 50,548 crore is proposed under the SC Plan and Rs 32, 387 crore under TSP. The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley while presenting his maiden Budget, in the Lok Sabha today said that to provide credit enhancement facility for young start up entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes, who aspire to be part of the neo-middle class, a sum of Rs 200 crore will be opertionalised through a scheme by IFCI. For the welfare of the tribals “Van Bandhu Kalyan yojana” is being launched with an initial allocation of Rs 100 crore. Shri Jaitley has announced a sum of Rs 100 crores for modernization of Madarsas. 

Shri Jaitley said that NDA Government during its last term in office had introduced the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) as a pension scheme for senior citizens. Under the scheme a total no. of 3.16 lakh annuitants are being benefitted and the corpus amounts to Rs 6,095 crore. The Finance Minister proposed to revive the scheme for a limited period from 15 August , 2014 to 14, August, 2015 for the benefit of citizens aged 60 years and above. He also proposed to set-up a committee to examine and recommend the use of unclaimed amounts with PPF, Post Office, saving schemes etc for the benefit of senior citizens. 

Shri Jaitley said that the Government is fully committed to the social security and welfare of employees serving in the organized sector. It is notifying minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month to all subscriber members of EP Scheme and has made an initial provision of Rs 250 crore in the current financial year to meet the expenditure. Further, increase in mandatory wage ceiling of subscription to EPS from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000 has been made and a provision of Rs 250 crore has been provided in the current budget. For the convenience of the subscribers, EPFO will launch the “Uniform Account Number” Service for contributing members to facilitate portability of Provident Fund accounts. 

The Finance Minister said that the Government will make all out efforts to create a more inclusive society for Persons with Disabilities to enable them to enjoy equal opportunity to lead an empowered life with dignity. He also proposed to establish National level institutes for Universal Inclusive Design and Mental Health Rehabilitation and also a Centre for Disability Sports. 

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General Budget 2014 -15: Five New IITs and Five New IIMS will be Set Up in the States

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance 

Five New IITs and Five New IIMS will be Set Up in the States  

The Government has announced to set-up five more IITs in the Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgrah, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Similarly, five new IIMs will be set-up in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra. For this, a sum of Rs. 500 crore has been allocated in the Budget. Presenting his Maiden Budget in Parliament here today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the country needs a large number of Centres of higher learning which are world class and accordingly declare to set-up Jai Prakash Narayan National Centre for Excellence in humanities in Madhya Pradesh. 

Shri Jaitley announced “Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training Programme” to infuse new training tools and motivate teachers with an initial corpus of Rs.500 crore. He said that for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan a provision of Rs. 28, 635 crore has been made while for Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan Rs. 4,966 crores have been allocated. The Government will also strive to provide toilets and drinking water in all the girls school in first phase, the Minister added. 

To take advantage of the reach of the IT, the Finance Minister allocated a sum of Rs. 100 crore for setting up virtual classrooms as Communication Linked Interface for Cultivating Knowledge (CLICK) and online courses. 

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