BUDGET 2018-19: LIVE UPDATES

Ease of living without a clean environment is meaningless

Finance Minister largely ignored environmental challenges in the budget

Budget 2018: Need adequate investment to plug gaps in education system

Around 20 per cent teachers currently working in government schools are untrained

Budget 2018: Balanced focus on rural, urban health needs will be crucial

The Centre should push for further decentralisation of health services

Budget 2018: Swachh Bharat Mission funds cut down

For the first time in the last four years, the allocation for the sanitation programme was reduced

Is the Union budget still relevant?

Concerns are being expressed over important economic decisions being taken outside the process of budget formulation

Allocation for food processing doubled but previous funds remain unused

The food processing ministry had spent only Rs 199 crore of the Rs 311 crore allocated under a mega food park scheme, according to a 2016 Lok …

Union Budget 2018: climate action funds lying unused is a concern

There is a possibility of unspent money being diverted to other more politically pressing concerns

Union Budget 2018: Mining sector needs more than just increased budgetary outlays

It is important to ensure that the private sector becomes the main source of funding exploration and R&D

Climate change disrupts the goal of doubling farmers’ income

According to the just tabled Economic Survey, the government needs to implement “radical” actions to ensure the Prime Minister’…

Food processing sector gets a boost under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana

Budget allocation has doubled from Rs 633.84 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 1,313.08 crore in 2018-19

Climate change fails to find mention in Budget speech

Far from being a reformist budget, Budget 2018 merely touches upon few segments of Indian agriculture and is not likely to bring changes to …

Jaitley says 47 projects completed under Namami Gange, but data suggests otherwise

While the Finance Minister said 47 projects are completed under Namami Gange, data from the National Clean Ganga Missions shows only 18 are …

Merely increasing PMFBY budget allocation might not help

To make this scheme really attractive for farmers, various serious measures need to be taken

Budget 2018: NDA’s tribal development scheme reduced to tokenism

Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana was introduced in 2014 for the overall development of tribal communities

Doubling farmers’ income discussed in a closed door meeting

What is the use of strategy when no special budget was allocated to double farmers’ income, says a senior NITI Aayog official anonymously

India’s research output in science & technology might improve with a push from Centre

Currently, India’s research output in science and technology has been poor as compared to the other major economies of the world

Budget 2018 gives AMR a miss despite being a public health threat  

With no funds allocated for Antimicrobial Resistance, it will be challenge to implement Strategic National Action Plan

Budget 2018: Time for promoting sustainable agriculture with focus on improving productivity of major crops

Continuing huge spending on major irrigation projects will not contribute to doubling of farmers’ income

Will this ‘pro-agriculture’ budget connect with farmers?

Whether this budget will really bring any immediate change on the ground is a big question

Arun Jaitley launches 'world's largest health scheme'; is there a catch?

The National Health Protection Scheme, a flagship public health insurance programme, was announced by the Finance Minister in his 2015-16 budget …

Is the government's Ujjwala target achievable?

The ambit of the Ujjwala scheme is to be increased from five crore to eight crore beneficiaries

Budget 2018: To make India open defecation-free, Centre must invest less in building toilets

The focus should be on educating people and building capacity for effective implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission

People's participation in formulating India's annual budget is negligible

"The officials just heard our points; they did not ask any questions," says an activist about a pre-budget meeting held December 6, 2017 to …

Budget for children: The story doesn’t change

Crucially missing in the budget is a response from the government in the area of Child Protection