Vision of Pandit Upadhyaya will reflect in next Budget: Arjun Meghwal

While Budget 2017 will be firmly 'pro poor', there will be no populist vote-bank measures

While the coming 2017-18 Union Budget will be firmly ‘pro poor’, there will be no populist votebank measures like massive farm loan waivers, Arjun Meghwal, minister of state, finance, tells Veena Mani, Dilasha Seth & Arup Roychoudhury. Edited excerpts:

The 2017-18 Budget is being seen as one of the most important this government will present. What can we expect?
 
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First, we will implement a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) from April 1. That will be a milestone in the history of economic reform. Linked to that, the Budget