Panel Discussion on Union Budget 2022-23

Report on Panel Discussion

UNION BUDGET 2022-23

      3^rd February 2022 

NITI Aayog Chair, the University of Rajasthan in association with the Department of Economics, IIS (deemed to be) University, Jaipur organized a panel discussion on the Union Budget 2022-23 on  3^rd February 2022  at 3 p.m.. The panel discussion had four panelists each having expertise in literature of economic growth and diversified sector respectively. It saw the participation of 92 members including the University's Honorable Chancellor, the faculty members and students. Prof. Meeta Mathur, Director, NITI Aayog Chair, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur welcomed all the participants. Honorable Chancellor of IIS (deemed to be) University, Dr. Ashok Gupta and Chairperson, Prof. Rajeev Jain, VC, University of Rajasthan heartily welcomed the panelists for a discussion on Union Budget 2022-23 and put forth their insights on the same. This marked the beginning of the discussion that was being moderated by Mr. Yashwardhan Singh.

 The first panelist was Prof. N.R. Bhanumurthy, Honorable Vice-Chancellor of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Economics University, Bengaluru. He discussed his views on the budget from the Macroeconomic perspective and applauded the move by the government of India towards capital expenditure in Union Budget 2022-23. He viewed it successful due to the existence of the multiplier in Capex which he shared is greater than revenue expenditure. He also stated that the country's revenue deficit was decreasing hence there was fiscal space for capital expenditure without worrying a lot about inflation. In his view, there would be a balance between inflation and growth in considering the Union Budget 2022-23.

 The second panelist was Prof. Indrani Gupta, Professor and Head, Health Policy Research Unit (HPRU) at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. She gave her point of view on the Health Sector of India in the Union Budget 2022-23. She presented data to put the light on revised estimates and budgetary estimates on the components of the health sector budget which according to her were lower in Union Budget 2022-23 than required by the health infrastructure of the country.

 The third panelist was Prof. C.S.C. Sekhar, Professor at the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG)  Delhi. He focused on the agriculture share in the Union Budget 2022-23. According to him, the budget has satisfactorily focused on allocating the budget to the agriculture sector compared to the previous year's budgets. He discussed different components of the agriculture sector. He was satisfied with budget allocation on Crop Sector, Animal Husbandry and Dairy, Fishery, and Food Processing. He welcomed the government's attention to value addition and food processing in the Union Budget 2022-23. He put light on the fact that agriculture is directly related to rural development. At last, he also stated that the budget decreased allocation in the MNREGA scheme as compared to the previous year's budget which he felt could be a reason associated with the pandemic.

The last and fourth panelist was Professor Vijay Vir Singh, President at Vivekananda Global University, Jaipur. He discussed the share of the Education sector in the Union Budget 2022-23. He shared his view on the budget's focus on digitizing education after the impact of a pandemic, and National Education Policy implementation. At last, he praised the government movement of all post offices to come under the core banking system as the step towards financial inclusion.

 In the end, one by one panelists took the questions from the participants and gave their concluding remarks on the Union Budget 2022-23. The moderator, Mr. Yashwardhan Singh gave the official Vote of Thanks to the panelists, the department of Economics, and the participants; and with this the panel discussion came to an end.