Ahead of the budget presentation in Parliament, people across the country look forward with expectation to tax and other benefits that they hope will be offered by the government. Before the new government presents its budget in Parliament, Orissa POST decided to ask some women about their wish list.
Smrutirekha Sahoo, a homemaker from Begunia, said that like millions of other women in the country she wants the new government to regulate the increasing price of essential commodities.
“It is not only the prices of goods like fuel and pulses, there has been a steep rise in transportation cost, prices of medicines and costs of education. This is burning a hole in the pockets of people severely affecting the budget of lower middleclass families. The finance minister should offer some relief to the people as they have voted them back to power,” said Smrutirekha.
Seventy-four-year old writer Sukamini Nanda of Bhubaneswar also feels that essential commodities are getting dearer by the day. But she also wants the cost of medicines to be reduced which will be helpful for senior citizens like her. This apart, she wants more funds to be allocated for schemes like Sakhi, which aims to assist women who face violence, and Nirbhaya Fund, which supports the initiative taken by government and non-government organisations to protect the dignity and security of women in India. The government should also pump more funds into Ujjawala, a scheme for the prevention of trafficking, rescue and rehabilitation of victims of commercial sexual exploitation, said Sukamini. Of late, there has been no hike in the allocation of funds for this scheme, she added.
Ruchika Basu is a homemaker who has recently launched a catering service to supplement the family income. “The government should try to check the prices of vegetables,” she said. She also suggested that the government should not slash the price of air-conditioners as it will result in more sales and consumption of more electricity.
Ruchika said, “Women empowerment remains a popular slogan for all governments since Independence. Unfortunately, female employment continues to be low in India. It is less than that of our neighbours like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Therefore, I expect the government to make provisions in the budget to generate more employment for women.”
She hopes women entrepreneurs will get more opportunities this time as Pratap Chandra Sarangi, an Odisha MP who is known for his commitment to work, is minister of state in the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) ministry.
Sumita Kumari Patnaik, a beautician from Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district, would like to see a price reduction in beauty products and equipment. “As more and more women these days are becoming beauty conscious, the government should reduce tax on the products to increase the volume of sales.
“I am also looking forward to proper execution of the Mudra Yojana scheme that offers loan to non-corporate and non-farm micro/mini enterprises like mine. This will help small entrepreneurs to start projects and help in generating more employment,” added Sunita.
She also suggested that all women entrepreneurs should be covered under government medical insurance schemes at low premium rate and have access to life insurance and pension schemes after 60 years.
BIJAY MANDAL, OP