To create jobs is the need of the hour: Vice President
Hyderabad: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today said the expanding middle class will be the key driver of India's economic growth, and the need of the hour is to take full advantage of our demography by creating jobs.
He also said that while India must improve its tax-to-GDP ratio and curb tax evasion, there should be no needless harassment of tax-payers.
"The expanding middle class will be the key driver of India's economic growth in the coming years. With the large population of India, about 65 per cent under 35 years, the need of the hour of is to take full advantage of this demographic number by creating adequate job opportunities for the young population," Naidu said.
He was speaking at the inaugural session on a seminar on `Contemporary issues and challenges in Finance, Marketing and Taxation', organised by the Keshav Memorial Institute of Commerce and Science here.
"Merely turning out lakhs of students with degrees is not enough," he said, adding that they must be taught "life skills".
While the first and second rounds of major economic reforms were initiated by the governments led by P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the third round of reforms by the present government is transforming the economy, he said.
Massive recapitalisation of public sector banks at Rs 2.11 lakh crore is expected to improve the credit growth and private sector investment, Naidu said, adding that introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has strengthened creditors' rights.
One of the major objectives of both demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax was to increase tax compliance, he said.
The expansion of formal economy will lead to increased tax collection and higher revenues, which will be used to accelerate development by building essential infrastructure, he said.
"While tax evasion has to be dealt with sternly, it should be ensured that there is no unnecessary harassment of tax payers by overzealous officials," he said.
The GST has changed the face of the indirect tax regime as it brings one tax instead of multiplicity of taxes, Naidu said.
India needs to ramp up its tax-to-GDP ratio, currently at 16.6 per cent, to fund a modern, twenty-first century government which can offer basic public facilities and social security to its citizens, Naidu said.
Demonetisation, a special investigation team for black money and the notification of the Benami Transactions Act would bring a wider range of economic activities in the tax net, while the war on black money needs to continue unabated, the vice president said.
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LoP Ashoka accuses Karnataka govt of 'diverting' SC/ST funds for guarantees
Bengaluru (PTI): Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, on Tuesday accused the state government of "diverting funds" meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the SCSP and TSP components to finance its guarantee schemes. He also alleged that the budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has undermined the principle of social justice.
During the discussion on the 2026–27 state budget in the assembly, the BJP leader claimed that substantial portions of funds earmarked for Dalit welfare had been diverted for other schemes over the past four years.
He also questioned the implementation of allocations under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP), saying the government has "failed" to ensure that the money actually reached the intended communities.
“Today, the money here has been diverted. In this diversion of funds, social justice has been ignored. If the money meant for Dalits is looted, can that be called social justice?” he asked while criticising the government’s handling of SC/ST allocations.
According to the opposition leader, around Rs 14,198 crore had been diverted in the current financial year alone from SCSP and TSP allocations to various guarantee schemes announced by the government.
Listing the expenditure under these programmes, the former Deputy CM said Rs 8,296.32 crore had been allocated for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, Rs 1,537 crore for Shakti, Rs 1,612 crore for Anna Bhagya, Rs 2,591.6 crore for Gruha Jyothi and Rs 1,062 crore for Yuva Nidhi.
“In total, Rs 14,198 crore has been diverted this year,” he said.
He further claimed that the diversion of funds had increased over the years.
“In 2023–24, Rs 11,144 crore was taken from SC/ST funds. In 2024–25, Rs 14,282.68 crore was taken. In 2025–26, Rs 13,343.84 crore was taken. In 2026–27, Rs 14,198.97 crore has been taken.”
“This amount keeps increasing year after year. In total, Rs 53,059.45 crore belonging to SC/ST communities has been taken during Siddaramaiah’s tenure,” he added.
Ashoka said that although the budget documents projected large allocations for Dalit welfare, the actual funds reaching the beneficiaries were significantly lower.
The government had earmarked Rs 44,632 crore for SC/ST communities in 2026–27, but once the diversion towards guarantee schemes was removed, the effective amount available was much less, he added.
The BJP leader also referred to a review meeting on January 31 to examine the utilisation of SCSP and TSP funds.
As per the review, Ashoka said only a part of the sanctioned amount had actually been released and spent.
“For SCSP, Rs 29,872 crore was allocated, but by January 27, only Rs 16,699 crore had been released, and the expenditure was Rs 15,391 crore."
Similarly, under the Tribal Sub-Plan, he alleged that Rs 11,900 crore had been allocated, but only Rs 6,521 crore was released and Rs 6,002 crore spent by the end of January.
“Even after eleven months, only about 50 per cent of the funds were released by the Finance department.”
Ashoka also criticised the allocation of SC/ST funds to departments and schemes that he said had little direct relevance to the welfare of those communities.
These included wildlife conservation programmes in the forest department, the tiger conservation project, maintenance of hospital buildings, and IT policy formulation.
“How are Dalits related to wildlife conservation? Are there SC tigers and ST elephants? How can funds meant for Dalits be used for tiger conservation?” he asked.
He also objected to funds being allocated from SC/ST components to institutions such as the Sanjay Gandhi Trauma and Orthopaedic Institute in Bengaluru and for Public Works Department buildings.
The opposition leader also charged that the government hiked taxes and prices of various commodities and services ranging from milk to petrol, vehicles, drinking water, sewerage cess, electricity, metro rail and bus fare, school and college fees, property taxes in Bengaluru, property e-Khata fee, A-Khata conversion, exam fee and birth and death certificate issuance.
“People are being taxed for digging cellar. The mines and geology department has issued notices to people. This is unheard of for me,” Ashoka said.
