Wednesday, 24 JULY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The young adults and women in the provisional State capital Dehradun have expressed mixed feelings regarding the Union budget 2024-25 announced by Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday. In the budget 2024-25, to address the needs of young adults and women, Sitharaman declared that budget will be allocated for internship opportunities in the top 500 companies, and over Rs three lakh crore will be allocated for schemes benefiting women and girls. In response to this, the youths and women have advocated for increased opportunities in areas such as the education system and women empowerment.
A young adult Sumit Kohli said that he appreciates the government for allocating a better budget this time for employment opportunities for the youths. However, he emphasised that these opportunities will be satisfactory only if the education system is strengthened. He said that the government should have included initiatives to establish new colleges, introduce new courses and improve the overall education system in the budget.
Further, another young adult Shikha Bhauguna expressed mixed feelings regarding the budget announced by the Finance minister. She said that while the budget claims to prioritise the development of youths, in reality, it falls short. Bahuguna emphasised that the budget should have laid more focus on entrepreneurship, improving the education system and other aspects.
Several other young adults have echoed similar sentiments about the 2024-25 budget.
Commenting on the aspects related to women in the new budget, Vishakha Verma said that allocating crores of rupees merely for initiating schemes for women is inefficient. Instead, the budget should have concentrated more on promoting women empowerment through initiatives for women’s self-help groups and their role in entrepreneurship, she said.
“Each year, the government announces a budget that supposedly prioritises women’s empowerment, which unfortunately does not align with reality. This year, a significant amount of funds have been allocated for women, but the actual situation on the ground tells a different story. The budget for women should focus more on creating employment opportunities and entrepreneurship,” local resident Alpana Dhingra said.
