Jaitley's budget speech centres around farmer, poor, women

Farmer, poor, rural and women took the centre stage in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget speech today but there were no familiar lighter moments of reciting couplet and invoking of famous poets.

In the last full Budget of the NDA government, the finance minister drew inspiration from Swami Vivekanand's Memoirs of European Travel decades ago, while delivering the speech in a mixture of English and Hindi.

In what has been dubbed as a "Bharat-oriented" Budget, Jaitley also did not miss the opportunity to highlight the humble beginnings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his efforts to uplift the poor.

"Madam Speaker, the present top leadership of this country has reached at this level after seeing poverty at close quarters. Our leadership is familiar with the problems being faced by the SC, ST, Backward Classes and economically weaker sections of the society," he said.
 

The finance minister further said, "People belonging to poor and middle class are not case studies for them, on the other hand they themselves are case study."

In a clear reflection of the government's target constituency, 'farmer' found mention 27 times and 'poor' 21 times in Jaitley's one-hour-fifty-minute-long speech.

Rural appeared 20 times while agriculture was mentioned 16 times in the finance minister's speech spanning over 6,600 words. Women weren't far behind, featuring 10 times.

Jaitley said the government has been guided by mission to especially strengthen agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, MSME and infrastructure sectors of Indian economy while making the Budget proposals.

"I am sure the New India which we aspire to create now will emerge," he said quoting what Swami Vivekanand had envisioned decades ago in his Memoirs of European Travel.

"You merge yourselves in the void and disappear, and let new India arise in your place. Let her arise out of the peasants cottage, grasping the plough; out of the huts of the fisherman.

"Let her spring from the grocers shop, from beside the oven of the fritterseller. Let her emanate from the factory, from marts, and from markets. Let her emerge from groves and forests, from hills and mountains.