Letters to The EDITOR: Budget constrained by limitations and restricted choices

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Budget constrained by limitations and restricted choices

A budget is not just a statement of numbers; it's a mirror of economic reality. When growth slows and revenues fail to rise as expected, choices naturally become limited. In such a situation, optimism alone cannot fix structural weaknesses. What matters is whether the budget honestly acknowledges constraints and prioritizes long-term stability over short-term announcements. Weak growth reduces tax collection, and low revenue narrows the government’s ability to spend without increasing debt. This creates a difficult cycle: without investment, growth remains weak, and without growth, investment hesitates. Pushing demand through temporary relief may offer short-term comfort, but it does not address deeper issues like low private investment, weak job creation, and inefficient public spending.

The real challenge lies in restoring confidence both among businesses and citizens. Investors need clarity and consistency, not frequent policy shifts. Citizens need quality public services, not just higher allocations on paper. Spending must focus on areas that multiply growth, such as infrastructure, education, and skill development, while ensuring that every rupee spent delivers value. Ultimately, a successful budget is not judged by how ambitious it sounds but by how realistically it balances growth, revenue, and responsibility. Tough choices are unavoidable, but avoiding them only postpones the problem. Honest budgeting, grounded in economic realities, is the only path toward sustainable growth and long-term confidence.

Aditya Kamble

(adiikamble16@gmail.com)

The Union Budget

This year's Union budget, presented by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Sunday, strikes a fine balance between India's global aspirations and grassroots development. It focuses on long-term growth and discipline. Assam and the eastern region are sure to benefit meaningfully from the reform-orientated budget. The CM has rightly said the budget announcement of Self-help Marts will go a long way in building a robust ecosystem of the state government's Lakhpati Didis under MMUA. The budget places strong thrust on futuristic industries such as semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, data centres, chemical parks, and rare earth. The emphasis on skilling aligns well with Assam's vision to emerge as a trusted hub for skilled professionals in healthcare, AI, and allied sectors. The targeted support for fisheries, commercial farming and Amrit Sarovars will benefit the state's farmers and cooperatives alike. The budget opens specific avenues for tourism and agriculture development for Assam and the Northeast through investment in infrastructure and public transport in Tier-3 and Tier-4 towns. For the common man, the budget promises future gains through infrastructure development, job creation and sectoral growth, which offer limited immediate economic relief.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati

Education Budget

The Union Budget 2026–27 has reaffirmed India’s commitment to education and skill development as the cornerstone of its long-term growth strategy. The allocation of Rs 1.39 lakh crore to the Ministry of Education, marking an 8.27% rise over the previous fiscal year, reflects the government’s focus on human capital formation. Out of this, higher education has received Rs 55,727 crore—demonstrating priority towards advanced learning, research, and skilling. Various notable initiatives, such as the establishment of five university townships, a girls’ hostel in every district, new veterinary and para-veterinary colleges, AVGC Content Creator Labs, and a National Institute of Hospitality, etc., are commendable steps toward inclusive and industry-aligned education.

However, the gap between policy ambition and fiscal reality persists. Public expenditure on education remains around 4% of GDP, well below the 6% target envisaged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. To truly achieve transformative outcomes, there is a pressing need to strengthen school infrastructure, enhance teacher capacity, invest in research ecosystems, and foster effective public–private partnerships to ensure equity and quality across all levels of education. Therefore, it is recommended that future budgets’ financial outlays should align more closely with NEP goals to realize India’s vision of an educated and skilled society.

Dr. Kumar Chandan Jyoti

Asst. Professor, PDUAM, Dalgaon

Growth projection and reality

From a common man's perspective, India's growth projected at 7.4% in the year 2026 stands in contrast with the burgeoning unemployment number and a plummeting rupee value. With a huge percentage of youth still wandering for jobs and numerous people still dependent on freebies, it speaks of a harsh reality that the distribution of opportunities and wealth is not proportional among the population.  When the same rupee at 64 against one dollar was delineated as an anathema but chanted as innocuous for the economy even at 90, it exposed that the threat imposed by a currency is not concomitant with its numerical value but depends on its political definition. The idea of a republic cannot be true on an island of affluence surrounded by an ocean of despair. A higher growth projection that fails to promise employment and financial freedom to the marginalized will sound more like statistics and less like a statement that assures socioeconomic uplift for the populace. Rather than only celebrating the growth number, the government should allot more funds in the upcoming budget for capital expenditure so that jobs are created through infrastructural works instead of only reducing taxes for increasing liquidity to run a consumer-driven economy to maintain the GDP.

Kabir Ahmed Saikia

Rajabari, Jorhat.