Union Budget 2022 Highlights: A glance at some of the new initiatives
The much-awaited Union Budget took everyone by surprise as several new initiatives were launched by the Finance Minister.
The much-awaited Union Budget took everyone by surprise. With elections around the corner, there was heavy speculation about the budget being a populist one. In a surprising turn of events, the budget instead turned out to be very growth-oriented. It also marked the launch of several new initiatives, some of which are mentioned below. Let’s take a look at them.
PM Gati Shakti Plan
Goal - Readying the infrastructure for ‘India at 100’.
PM Gati Shakti is a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development. This plan shall be formulated in FY23 and would be driven by seven engines namely, roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways, and logistics infrastructure.
These engines are expected to pull the economy in unison and shall derive support from energy transmission, IT communication, and bulk water along with sewerage and social infrastructure. Moreover, the projects pertaining to these seven engines in the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) (announced in December 2019) will be aligned with the Gati Shakti framework.
DESH-Stack e-portal
Goal- The goal of this Union Budget 2022 initiative is youth empowerment.
With an intent to empower citizens to skill, reskill or upskill, the finance minister announced the launch of a Digital Ecosystem for skilling and livelihood – the DESH-Stack e-portal. The empowerment will be done by way of online training. Apart from this, the portal shall provide API-based trusted skill credentials, payment and discovery layers to find relevant jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.
National Tele Mental Health Programme
Goal - To enhance access to better mental health care.
The Union Budget 2022 recognised mental health as an important issue that needs immediate attention, a much-needed move considering the adverse mental health impact caused by the pandemic in people of all age groups. To provide access to better quality mental health counselling and care services, the finance minister announced the launch of a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’.
This initiative shall receive technical support from the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) and comprise a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence, with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) being the nodal centre.
e-Passport
Goal - To enhance data security and convenience for travellers.
The finance minister announced the issuance of e-Passports, which shall make use of embedded chips and futuristic technology. These passports will be rolled out in FY23 and shall enhance convenience for the citizens in their overseas travel. Another benefit of this e-Passport is the enhanced security of data. In case of identification of acts such as tampering, the passport authentication shall fail.