Trade unions have asked the government to increase the income tax exemption limit, double the work on offer per family under the jobs guarantee scheme, and widen the social security net to cover the unorganised sector workers.
In their pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the unions also sought the constitution of the 8th Pay Commission and the restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS).
“The exemption on income tax limit should be enhanced to Rs 10 lakh annually,” said SP Tiwary, National General Secretary, Trade Union Co-ordination Centre (TUCC).
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Currently, under the new income tax regime, an income tax rebate is available for income up to Rs 7 lakh and a standard deduction of Rs 50,000 to make it attractive for individual taxpayers.
However, other deductions which are available under the old tax regime like those under Sections 80C, 80D, 80E, interest on home loans (Section 24b), leave travel concession, house rent allowance and deduction for entertainment allowance, etc are not allowed in the new tax regime.
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh said the scope of MGNREGA needs to be doubled with the provision for a guaranteed 200 days of work for each family. Agriculture and allied sectors works should also be linked to MGNREGA and the use of Machinery to perform MGNREGA work has to be stopped.
“We have asked the FM to focus on rural development, MSME, manufacturing, exports, infrastructure, and skill development in the Budget. Also, we have asked the FM to bring in all 93% of workers in the unorganised sector under the social security net,” said B Surendran, All India Organising Secretary, BMS.
The trade unions have sought that all the existing vacancies in the central government departments and PSUs must be filled immediately and the practice of contract and outsourcing should be stopped. TUCC suggested that an additional 2% tax on the super-rich should be imposed to guarantee all workers social security. It also demanded that privatisation should be halted.
In its memorandum, BMS sought high priority to rural based MSMEs under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to create a larger number of jobs. Cheaper credit lines should be made available for setting up factories under the PLI scheme in rural areas, particularly Agro-based industries and single-window digital licensing camps can be organized in district headquarters to ease licensing procedure for MSMEs, it said.
It also suggested healthcare benefits under Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana to all persons above 60 years of age. It can be made contributory with a token amount of Rs 100 per month and coverage of Rs 5 lakhs annually. Also, the Ayushman Bharat Scheme’s income criteria should be extended from Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs 3 lakh to benefit more people.
Currently, the PMJAY scheme which offers Rs 5 lakh-a-year free health cover is available for 107 million poor households in the country, roughly covering the bottom 40% of the population.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
