ಭಾನುವಾರ, ಫೆಬ್ರವರಿ 4, 2018

Union Budget 2018 Fiscal Expenditure & Taxation Reforms

Union Budget 2018: Fiscal Expenditure & Taxation Reforms

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. In the independent India, this is the 88th budget and the fifth of the Modi Government. Arun Jailtley announced following initiatives:

Fiscal Expenditure

• The total expenditure of the Union government is Rs 21.57 lakh crore.

• The projected fiscal deficit of the FY 2018-19 is 3.3 per cent of the GDP.

Taxation Reforms

• In previous years, the growth rate of direct taxes have been significant. Till January 2018, growth rate of 18.7 per cent was recorded. Over 85 lakh new taxpayers filed their returns. The number of effective taxpayers increased from 6.47 lakh crore to 8.27 lakh crore in the previous financial year.

• The excess revenue from personal income tax is Rs 90000 crore.

• No changes in personal income tax slabs.

• Majorly, the personal income tax collection comes from the salaried class. Around 1.89 crore returns were filed in 2017 and Rs 1.44 lakh crore was paid as taxes.

• 100 per cent tax deduction to farmer-producer companies having Rs 100 crore turnover.

• Corporate tax will be reduced to 25 per cent for companies having turnover of up to Rs 250 crore.

• Long term capital gains tax of 10 per cent will be levied for amount exceeding Rs 1 lakh.

• This year budget proposes a standard deduction of Rs 40000 for transport and medical reimbursements. The revenue cost of this reimbursements will be Rs 8000 crore.

• Exemption of interest income for deposits in banks and post offices will be increased from Rs 10000 to Rs 50000 for senior citizens. It applies to all fixed deposit schemes.

• All senior citizens will now be able to claim benefit of a deduction of Rs 50000 for any medical expenditure and can claim deduction of Rs 100000  for critical illnesses.

Duties
• Customs duty on mobile phones and parts of televisions will be increased to 20 per cent from 15 per cent.

• Customs duty on raw cashew will be reduced from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

• The name of the Central Board of Excise and Customs will be changed to the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Customs.

• Electronic IT assessment will be rolled out across the country for greater efficiency and transparency.

• No more education cess on imported goods. Education cess will be replaced by social welfare surcharge of 10 per cent.

Union Budget 2018 Financial sector

Union Budget 2018: Financial Sector

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. In the independent India, this will be the 88th budget and the fifth of the Modi Government.

This year's budget session is crucial as it comes after government's two big financial decisions - demonetisation and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax. It will be also NDA government's last full budget presentation before next year's Lok Sabha elections.

The Budget 2018 has identified Financial Sector as key driver of the economy. Accordingly, Arun Jailtley announced following initiatives:

• NITI Aayog will establish a National Programme to direct government's efforts in the area of Artificial Intelligence towards national development.

• The government will explore use of blockchain technology proactively to boost digital economy. However, the government will not consider cryptocurrency as legal tender.

• Individual Enterprises will now have their own unique IDs.

• System of toll payments by cash will be digitized.

• Government will be bringing out an industry-friendly defence production policy in this year.

• The Union Commerce Ministry will develop a National Logistics Portal as a single window program to boost the logistics sector.

• For the Financial Year 2018-19, disinvestment target of Rs 80000 crore has been set.

• Recapitalisation: The Union government will recapitalise public sector banks to help them lend an additional Rs 5 lakh crore.

• Unit Trust of India, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance will be merged and then listed.

• Gold Monetisation Scheme will be reworked with an aim to enable people to open hassle-free gold deposit accounts.

• Union Government will monetise selected central public sector enterprises using Infrastructure Investment Trusts.

Salaries of Members of Parliament (MPs)
• Emoluments will revised for the President to Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4lakh for Vice-President and Rs 3.5 lakh per month for Governors.

• Emoluments to MPs will be refixed with effect from April 1, 2018. The law will provide automatic revision of emoluments of MPs after every five years, indexed to inflation.

Union Budget 2018 Underprivileged

Union Budget 2018: Underprivileged

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. In the independent India, this will be the 88th budget and the fifth of the Modi Sarkar.

This year's budget session is crucial as it comes after government's two big financial decisions - demonetisation and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax. It will be also NDA government's last full budget presentation before next year's Lok Sabha elections.

The lower and middle class have been the focus of the NDA Government during the last three years. Hence, accordingly Arun Jaitley announced the following initiatives in the Union Budget 2018:

• The government had launched Ujjwala Yojana earlier to make poor women free from the smoke of wood.

• Though initially, their target was to provide free LPG connections to about 5 crore poor women, the government has now proposed to increase the target to 8 crore poor women.

• Under Saubhagya Yojna, around 4 crore poor households are being provided with free electricity electricity connections at a cost of Rs 16000 crore

• Swachh Bharat Mission- Under the mission, Government has already constructed more than 6 crore toilets to enable proper hygiene and sanitation especially among women.  The government is now planning to construct 2 crore more toilets.

• The government plans to build houses for all the poor in the country by 2022. To ensure the same, it launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in rural and urban areas of the country.

• Under the Yojana, 51 lakhs houses in year 2017-18 and 51 lakh houses during 2018-19 will be constructed exclusively in rural areas. In urban areas the assistance has been sanctioned to construct 37 lakh houses.

• The government has also established a dedicated Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) in National Housing Bank, funded from priority sector lending shortfall and fully serviced bonds authorised by the Government of India.

• The government also plans to increase the loans to Self Help Groups of women to Rs 75000 crore by March 2019.

• The government has also proposed to substantially increase the allocation of National Rural Livelihood Mission to Rs 5750 crore in 2018-19.

• Further, the ground water irrigation scheme under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna- Har Khet ko Pani will be taken up in 96 deprived irrigation districts where less than 30 per cent of the land holdings gets assured irrigation presently. The government has allocated Rs 2600 crore for the same.

• In the year 2018-19, for creation of livelihood and infrastructure in rural areas, total amount to be spent by the Ministries will be Rs 14.34 lakh crore, including extra-budgetary and non-budgetary resources of Rs 11.98 lakh crore.

• Overall, the budgetary allocation will give way to increased employment opportunities, lead to the development of 3.17 lakh kilometres of rural roads, 51 lakh new rural houses, 1.88 crore toilets and provide 1.75 crore new household electric connections besides boosting agricultural growth.

Union Budget 2018 Education sector

Union Budget 2018: Education Sector

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. In the independent India, this will be the 88th budget and the fifth of the Modi Sarkar.

This year's budget session is crucial as it comes after government's two big financial decisions - demonetisation and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax. It will be also NDA government's last full budget presentation before next year's Lok Sabha elections.

The Budget 2018 has identified the Education sector as one of the key drivers of the economy. Accordingly, Arun Jaitley announced following initiatives:

• The government has allocated an amount worth Rs 9975 crore for National Social Assistance Programme this year.

• Budget 2018 proposes to treat education holistically without segmentation from pre-nursery to Class 12.

• To improve the quality of teachers and education, the government would be initiating an integrated B.Ed. programme for the teachers.

• The government has amended the Right to Education Act to enable more than 13 lakh untrained teachers to get trained.

• The government has also proposed to increase the digital intensity in education and move gradually from ‘'black board’’ to ‘‘digital board’’.

• Technology will also be used to upgrade the skills of teachers through the recently launched digital portal ‘‘DIKSHA’’.

• To provide the best quality education to the tribal children in their own environment, it has been decided that by the year 2022, every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an Ekalavya Model Residential School.

• Ekalavya schools will be on par with Navodaya Vidyalayas and will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.

• The government has also proposed to launch a major initiative named ‘‘Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022’’ with a total investment of Rs 1, 00,000 crore in next four years. Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) would be suitably structured for funding this initiative.

• The government is also planning to set up a specialised Railways University at Vadodara. 

• The government has also proposed to set up two new full-fledged schools of Planning and Architecture, to be selected on challenge mode.

• Additionally, 18 new schools of Planning and Architecture would be established in the IITs and NITs as autonomous Schools, also on challenge mode.

• Lastly, the government would launch the ‘Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF)’ Scheme this year.

• Under the scheme, the government would identify 1,000 best B.Tech students each year from premier institutions and provide them facilities to do Ph.D in IITs and IISc, with a handsome fellowship. It is expected that these bright young fellows would voluntarily commit few hours every week for teaching in higher educational institutions.

Union Budget 2018 Health, MSME and social welfare

Union Budget 2018: Health, MSME and Social Welfare

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. In the independent India, this will be the 88th budget and the fifth of the Modi Government. Arun Jailtley announced following initiatives:

Health Sector
• National Health Protection Scheme will be launched to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. Under this, up to Rs 5 lakh will be provided to each family per year in secondary and tertiary care institutions. This scheme will have 50 crore beneficiaries.

• This scheme will generate lakhs of jobs, particularly for women.

• Tuberculosis claims more lives every year than any other disease. The government will provide Rs 600 crore as nutritional support to all TB patients.

• 24 new government medical colleges will be set up by upgrading existing district hospitals in the country. At least one medical college will be there for three parliamentary constituencies.

MSME sector
• Mass formalization of MSME sector is happening after demonetization and GST. Online loan sanctioning facility will be refurbished to speed up the complete process by banks.

• Rs 3 lakh crore is allocated as target for the Mudra Yojana for the year 2018-19. Additonal measures will be taken to boost the growth of venture capital funds and angel investors.

• The government will contribute 12 per cent of wages of new employees for all sectors.

• Woman's contribution to the Provident Fund will be reduced to 8 per cent from now onwards for the first 3 years of her employment with no reduction in employer's contribution.

• Allocation of Rs 7148 crore for the textile sector.

Other Social Welfare Schemes

• 187 projects have been sanctioned under Namami Gange. Namami Ganga programme outlay has been increased with an all round development plan for villages and cities along the river Ganga.

• In previous year, 4465 Ganga gram villages were declared open-defecation free. This year, government has identified more 115 districts and will invest in social services.

• Six crore toilets have been built already, and in the next year, two crore additional toilets will be constructed under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Union Budget 2018 Agriculture

Union Budget 2018: Agriculture Sector

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. In the independent India, this will be the 88th budget and the fifth of the Modi Sarkar.

This year's budget session is crucial as it comes after government's two big financial decisions - demonetisation and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax. It will be also NDA government's last full budget presentation before next year's Lok Sabha elections.

The Budget 2018 has identified Agriculture Sector as one of the key drivers of the economy. Accordingly, Arun Jaitley announced the following initiatives:

• The government would be doubling the farmer’s income by 2022, on the occasion of India’s 75th anniversary with special emphasis on generating higher income for farmers.

• The government's emphasis will be on generating higher incomes for farmers, by helping them produce more with lesser cost and earn higher income for their produce.

• The government wants to assist farmers to earn 1.5 times the production cost, and the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) for the Kharif Crops has been set at 1.5 times the produce price.

• The government would be working with the states to ensure that all farmers get a fair price.

• Niti Aayog would also be developing appropriate policies through which farmers would be able to get the right price for their  crops.

• More than 86 per cent farmers are small and marginal.To assist these farmers, the government has decided to develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs).

• In these GrAMs, physical infrastructure will be strengthened using MGNREGA and other government schemes. The government would be setting up an Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of `2000 crore for developing and upgrading agricultural marketing infrastructure in the 22000 Grameen Agricultural Markets (GrAMs).

• Organic farming will be encouraged and women self help groups will be encouraged to take up organic farming under national rural agriculture programme.

• Allocation of Rs 1400 crore for food processing, doubled from last year's budget which allocated Rs 715 crore.

• Government plans to launch ‘Operation Green’ with a corpus of Rs 500 crore. It will promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management.

• Indian Agricultural Export will be liberalised and 42 mega food parks will be launched.

• Kisan credits cards will be provided to fisheries and animal husbandry farmers to help them meet their working capital needs. Small and marginal farmers will get more benefits.

• The government has set aside Rs 10,000 crore for Fisheries and Aquaculture and Animal Husbandry Development Fund.

• The government has also proposed to launch a restructured bamboo mission with a fund of Rs 1290 crore to promote bamboo sector in a holistic manner.

• The agricultural credit target has also been increased from Rs 8.5 lakh crore to Rs 11 lakh core.

Air Pollution

The Government is going to introduce a special scheme to support the state governments of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi to manage the burning of crop residue and reduce pollution.

Key takeaways from 2018 union Budget

Key takeaways from Union Budget 2018
Feb 2, 2018 10:14 IST
Rupali Pruthi
Key takeaways from Budget 2018
Key takeaways from Budget 2018

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1, 2018 presented the fifth and last full Budget of the NDA Government before the 2019 General Elections.

This year's budget session follows two big financial decisions of the government- demonetisation and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax.

Here are the key takeaways from Budget 2018:

Agriculture: The government would be doubling the farmer’s income by 2022, on the occasion of India’s 75th anniversary. Government plans to launch ‘Operation Green’ with a corpus of Rs 500 crore and Rs 10000 crore for Fisheries and Aquaculture and Animal Husbandry Development Fund.

Health: National Health Protection Scheme will be launched to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. Under this, up to Rs 5 lakh will be provided to each family per year in secondary and tertiary care institutions. This scheme will have 50 crore beneficiaries.

MSME: Mass formalization of MSME sector is happening after demonetization and GST. Online loan sanctioning facility will be refurbished to speed up the complete process by banks.

Namami Gange: 187 projects have been sanctioned under Namami Gange. Namami Ganga programme outlay has been increased with an all round development plan for villages and cities along the river Ganga.

Infrastructure: The government is planning to develop connectivity infrastructure in the border areas. While the construction on the Rohtang tunnel has been completed, the construction of Zojila pass tunnel is progressing well.

Under Smart Cities mission, 99 cities have been selected with outlay of Rs 2.09 lakh crore. Government to preserve heritage cities through National Heritage Augmentation Yojana.

Rs 1. 48 lakh crore have been allocated for the Indian Railways for the year 2018-19. 18000 km of railway line will be doubled to eliminate capacity constraints. The regional connectivity scheme- UDAN would be connecting 56 underserved airports and 36 underserved helipads in the country.

Financial Sector: NITI Aayog will establish a National Programme to direct government's efforts in the area of Artificial Intelligence towards national development. The government will explore use of blockchain technology proactively to boost digital economy. However, the government will not consider cryptocurrency as legal tender.

The Union government will recapitalise public sector banks to help them lend an additional Rs 5 lakh crore.  Unit Trust of India, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance will be merged and then listed.

Salaries of MPs: Emoluments will revised for the President to Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4lakh for Vice-President and Rs 3.5 lakh per month for Governors. Emoluments to MPs will be refixed with effect from April 1, 2018. The law will provide automatic revision of emoluments of MPs after every five years, indexed to inflation.

Education: The Budget 2018 proposes to treat education holistically without segmentation from pre-nursery to Class 12. The Revitalising of Infrastructure and Systems of Education (RISE) will be launched by 2019. By 2022, every block with more than 50 per cent ST population will have Ekalvya schools at par with Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Taxation Reforms: No changes in personal income tax slabs. Majorly, the personal income tax collection comes from the salaried class. Around 1.89 crore returns were filed in 2017 and Rs 1.44 lakh crore was paid as taxes.

All senior citizens will now be able to claim benefit of a deduction of Rs 50000 for any medical expenditure and can claim deduction of Rs 100000  for critical illnesses.

Duties: Customs duty on mobile phones and parts of televisions will be increased to 20 per cent from 15 per cent. Customs duty on raw cashew will be reduced from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent. No more education cess will be levied on imported goods. Education cess will be replaced by social welfare surcharge of 10 per cent.

Education Sector: The government would be allocating Rs 1 lakh crore to revitalise and upgrade the education sector, promoting learning based outcomes and research. The government also aims to gradually move from black boards to digital boards by 2022. The Revitalising of Infrastructure and Systems of Education (RISE) will be launched by 2019.

Union Budget major 2018 Highlights

Union Budget 2018: Major Highlights
Feb 1, 2018 12:55 IST
Rupali Pruthi
Union Budget 2018: Major Highlights
Union Budget 2018: Major Highlights

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1, 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. In the independent India, this will be the 88th budget and the fifth of the Modi Government.

This year's budget session is crucial as it comes after government's two big financial decisions - demonetisation and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax. It will be also NDA government's last full budget presentation before next year's Lok Sabha elections.

The Budget 2018 has identified various sectors including agriclutre, infrastructure, financial, public services, etc as key drivers of the economy. Accordingly, Arun Jailtley announced following initiatives:

Agriculture
• This year's Budget will focus on generating higher income for farmers and higher prices for their produce.
• For better price realisation, farmers need to make decisions based on prices likely to be available in the market.
• Minimum Support Price shall be increased by 1.5 times.
• More than 86 per cent farmers are small and marginal, they will be strengthened through government initiatives like MNREGAS with corpus of Rs 2000 crore.
• Organic farming will be encouraged and women self help groups will be encouraged for organic farming
• Allocation of Rs 1400 crore for Food processing, doubled from last year's budget which allocated Rs 715 crore.
• Operation Green will be launched for agriculture with corpus of Rs 500 crore.
• Rs 1290 crore allocated for restructured bamboo production mission.
• Setting up of Fishery and Aquaculture fund and Animal Husbandary fund with total corpus of Rs 10000 crore

Underprivileged
• Ujjwala Yojana, the free LPG connection scheme will be expanded to eight crore women.
• The Saubhagya Yojana will be another focus for the government.
• Free power connections to 4 crore homes.
• A dedicated affordable housing fund will be set up this year.
• Loans to self-help groups will increase to Rs 75000 crore.
• Allocation of Rs 5750 crore to National Livelihood Mission and Rs 2600 crore to the groundwater irrigation scheme.

Education Sector
• Budget 2018 proposes to treat education holistically without segmentation from pre-nursery to Class 12.
• An integrated B-Ed programme will be initiated for teachers.
• Gradual progress from blackboard to digital board.
• Revitalising of Infrastructure and Systems of Education (RISE) will be launched by 2019.
• Setting up of two new full-fledged schools of planning and architecture.
• 18 new schools of planning and architecture will be set up in the IITs and NITs.
• Prime Minister's fellowship programme will be launched to subsidise research.

Health Sector
• National Health Protection Scheme will be launched to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. Under this, up to Rs 5 lakh will be provided to each family per year in secondary and tertiary care institutions. This scheme will have 50 crore beneficiaries.
• This scheme will generate lakhs of jobs, particularly for women.
• Tuberculosis claims more lives every year than any other disease. The government will provide Rs 600 crore as nutritional support to all TB patients.
• 24 new government medical colleges will be set up by upgrading existing district hospitals in the country. At least one medical college will be there for three parliamentary constituencies.

MSME sector
• Mass formalization of MSME sector is happening after demonetization and GST. Online loan sanctioning facility will be refurbished to speed up the complete process by banks.
• Rs 3 lakh crore is allocated as target for the Mudra Yojana for the year 2018-19. Additonal measures will be taken to boost the growth of venture capital funds and angel investors.
• The government will contribute 12 per cent of wages of new employees for all sectors.
• Woman's contribution to the Provident Fund will be reduced to 8 per cent from now onwards for the first 3 years of her employment with no reduction in employer's contribution.
• Allocation of Rs 7148 crore for the textile sector.

Infrastructure and Transport
• Rs 1. 48 lakh crore have been allocated for the Indian Railways for the year 2018-19.
• 18000 km of railway line will be doubled to eliminate capacity constraints.
• Government will work on Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridor and will give special attention to the maintenance of track infrastructure.
• Budget will also encompass the increase in the use of technology, fog safe train protection and warning system.
• Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations will be taken up.
• All railways stations with more than 25000 footfalls will have escalators.
• An institute is under its way at Vadodara to train manpower for high-speed railway projects.
• UDAN scheme will now connect 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads in the country.
• Airport Authority of India has 124 airports in total. The airport capacity will now be enhanced to handle more than one billion trips every year.

Financial Sector
• NITI Aayog will establish a National Programme to direct government's efforts in the area of Artificial Intelligence towards national development.
• The government will explore use of blockchain technology proactively to boost digital economy. However, the government will not consider cryptocurrency as legal tender.
• Enterprises will now have to own their unique IDs.
• System of toll payments by cash will be digitized.
• The Union Commerce Ministry will develop a National Logistics Portal as a single window program to boost the logistics sector.
• Recapitalisation: The Union government will recapitalise public sector banks to help them lend an additional Rs 5 lakh crore.
• Unit Trust of India, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance will be merged and then listed.

Taxation Reforms
• The total expenditure of the Union government will be Rs 21.57 lakh crore. The projected fiscal deficit of the FY 2018-19 is 3.3 per cent of the GDP.
• In previous years, the growth rate of direct taxes have been significant. Till January 2018, growth rate of 18.7 per cent was recorded. Over 85 lakh new taxpayers filed their returns.
• The number of effective taxpayers increased from 6.47 lakh crore to 8.27 lakh crore in the previous financial year.
• The excess revenue from personal income tax is Rs 90000 crore.
• 100 per cent tax deduction to farmer-producer companies having Rs 100 crore turnover.
• Corporate tax will be reduced to 25 per cent for companies having turnover of up to Rs 250 crore.
• Long term capital gains tax of 10 per cent will be levied for amounts exceeding Rs 1 lakh.

Union Budget 2018 quiz

Union Budget 2018 Quiz: Questions Based on Budget

Feb 3, 2018 13:22 IST

Union Budget 2018: Quiz

1 February 2018: We have prepared the Questions based on the Union Budget 2018 which will help every competitive exam aspirant to revise the Budget 2018 Quiz at ease. It is prepared in such a way so that it helps you to prepare the Budget 2018 facts and figues in quick time.

1. The Union government in its budget 2018 has proposed to launch a restructured mission with an outlay of Rs 1290 crore to promote which sector?
a) Handloom
b) Bamboo
c) Traditional Craft
d) Rural Development

2. Which among the following state governments does not qualify for the special scheme that the government is going to introduce to tackle air pollution?
a) Uttar Pradesh 
b) Delhi 
c) Punjab
d) Haryana

3. How much fund has the Union Government allocated for its new ‘Operation Green’ mission ?
a) 1000 crore
b) 680 crore
c) 500 crore
d) 1300 crore

4. The Union government has proposed to extend the reach of Ujjwala Yojana to how many poor women in 2018-19?
a) 4 crore 
b) 10 crore
c) 8 crore
d) 6 crore

5. The Indian Railways is planning to re-develop how many major railway stations in 2018?
a) 400
b) 540
c) 730
d) 600

6. The government would be setting up an institute to train manpower for high-speed railway project in which city?
a) Ahmedabad
b) Surat 
c) Pune
d) Vadodara 

7. What is the salary of President as per Union Budget 2018?
a) Rs 5 lakh
b) Rs 4 lakh
c) Rs 3 lakh
d) Rs 2 lakh

8. As per Union Budget 2018, the Customs duty on mobile phones and parts of televisions will be increased to what per cent?
a) 20 per cent
b) 25 per cent
c) 30 per cent
d) 35 per cent

9. What was the total fiscal expenditure of the Union Government in 2017-18 as per Union Budget 2018?
a) Rs 21.47 lakh crore
b) Rs 21.57 lakh crore
c) Rs 21.67 lakh crore
d) Rs 21.77 lakh crore

10. As per Union Budget 2018, senior citizens will now be able to claim benefit of deduction of what amount in case of critical illnesses?
a) Rs 50000 
b) Rs 75000
c) Rs 100000
d) Rs 125000

11. Which scheme will be launched this year as per Budget 2018 to improve the Health Sector of the country?
a) Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
b) National Health Policy 2018
c) Swasth Bharat
d) National Health Protection Scheme

12. As per Budget 2018, which three firms will be merged and then listed?
a) UTI, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance
b) LIC, Bharti AXA and United Insurance
c) General Insurance, Max Bupa and UTI
d) None of the above

ANSWERS

1. (b) Bamboo
The Union Government in its Budget 2018 has proposed to launch a restructured bamboo mission with a fund of Rs 1290 crore to promote bamboo sector in a holistic manner.

2. (a) Uttar Pradesh 
The Government is going to introduce a special scheme to support the state governments of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidise machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue.

3. (c) Rs 500 crore
The Union government plans to launch ‘Operation Green’ with a corpus of Rs 500 crore. It will promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management. 

4. (c) 8 crore 
The Lower and Middle Class have been the focus of the NDA Government during the last three years. The government had launched Ujjwala Yojana earlier to make poor women free from the smoke of wood. Though initially, their target was to provide free LPG connections to about 5 crore poor women, the government has now proposed to increase the target to 8 crore poor women. 

5. (d) 600 
The Indian Railways is planning to re- develop 600 major railway stations. All stations with more than 25000 footfall will have escalators. All the stations will also be equipped with high-speed wifi.

6. (d) Vadodara 
The Union government had previously laid the foundation of the high-speed bullet Mumbai-Ahmedabad train. An institute would be set up in Vadodara in Gujarat to train the manpower for the high-speed railway project. 

7. (a) Rs 5 lakh
Emoluments will revised for the President to Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4 lakh for Vice-President and Rs 3.5 lakh per month for Governors. Emoluments to MPs will be refixed with effect from April 1, 2018.

8. (a) 20 per cent
The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. As per the Budget, Customs duty on mobile phones and parts of televisions will be increased to 20 per cent from 15 per cent. Customs duty on raw cashew will be reduced from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

9. (b) Rs 21.57 lakh crore
The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February 2018 presented the Union Budget 2018 in the parliament. In the independent India, this is the 88th budget and the fifth of the Modi Government. The total expenditure of the Union government is Rs 21.57 lakh crore.

10. (c) Rs 100000
This year budget proposes a standard deduction of Rs 40000 for transport and medical reimbursements. All senior citizens will now be able to claim benefit of a deduction of Rs 50000 for any medical expenditure and can claim deduction of Rs 100000  for critical illnesses.

11. (d) National Health Protection Scheme
National Health Protection Scheme will be launched to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. Under this, up to Rs 5 lakh will be provided to each family per year in secondary and tertiary care institutions. This scheme will have 50 crore beneficiaries.

12. (a) UTI, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance
As per Union Budget 2018, the Union government will recapitalise public sector banks to help them lend an additional Rs 5 lakh crore. Unit Trust of India, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance will be merged and then listed.

2018-19 New schemes

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget 2018-19 on February 1, 2018. The union Budget 2018-19 is the Modi government's last full year Budget in which the Finance Minister began his speech by highlighting the government's economic reforms undertaken in the last four years and its achievements.

In this year budget, the government has announced several key schemes to uplift the poor and farmers. Here, we’ll see all the new schemes launched by the government.

1.Kifayati Aawas yojna: The Central Government will create a dedicated affordable housing fund in National Housing Bank. In the Budget 2018-19, Jaitley said that "My government will set up a dedicated affordable housing fund in the National Housing Bank, which will be funded from the loans given to priority sector." The government has planned that by the end of 2022, everyone will have their own house. For this, more than one crore households are being constructed in the rural areas in the current and next financial year under the Pradhanmantri Awas Yojana.

2.Ayushman Bharat Scheme (National Health Protection Scheme): National Health Protection Scheme will be launched to cover 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. Under this, up to Rs 5 lakh will be provided to each family per year in secondary and tertiary care institutions. This scheme will have 50 crore beneficiaries. So far under the National Health Insurance Scheme, insurance cover of Rs 30,000 was available only. This is a big increase in this regard.

3.Kisan Credit Card to Fishermen: On the lines of the Kisan Credit Card, the Finance Minister has announced a card to fishermen and cattle owners. This will make enable them to avail the easier loans. The Government says that this will help the people associated with the milk production business in rural areas. Apart from this, financial assistance will also be provided to fisheries.

4.Gobar-Dhan Yojna (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resource Fund Scheme): The government announced a new scheme Gobar-Dhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resource Fund) scheme under its efforts to improve the lives of the villagers. The Government said that under this scheme, solid waste of dung and fields will be changed into compost, biogas and bio-CNG. He said that under the vision of inclusive society formation, the government has identified 115 districts for development.

5.National Bamboo Mission:Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has also proposed the proposal of National Bamboo Mission. An amount of Rs. 1,290 crore will be allocated under this scheme. This will help in the development of bamboo production as an industry. This will help the people of rural and tribal areas.

6.Eklavya School: As per the Finance Minister, the Eklavya schools will be established for scheduled caste students by 2022 along the lines of Navodaya schools. He said that Eklavya model residential schools will be set up in each Block having more than 50 percent tribal areas and 20,000 tribal people. These schools will be part of Navodaya Vidyalayas and besides training in sports and skill development, there will also be special facilities for preserving local art and culture.

7.Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE): In his Budget 2018 speech, Jaitley unveiled a new scheme called Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education or RISE. The RISE scheme will be financed via a restructured higher education financing agency (HEFA) that is functioning for the last two months as a non-banking financial company. It aims to lend low-cost funds to government higher educational institutions. Presently, HEFA is looking to raise Rs20,000 crore and Budget announcement hiked this number to Rs1 trillion.While HEFA was granted a budgetary allocation of Rs250 crore in the fiscal year 2018, in FY19, the lending body will be provided a budget of Rs2,750 crore.

8.Operation Green: The goal of the scheme is to double the farmers’ income by end of the year 2022. With the budget allocation of Rs. 500 Cr, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced about the Operation Green in Union Budget 2018. This scheme will facilitate the farmers of the nation. This will be in line with the operation flood. To reduce the fluctuation in the pricing of Onion, Tomatoes and Potatoes the scheme has been launched.

9.Prime Minister Fellowship Scheme: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also announced the PM Fellowship Scheme during the budget. Under this, one thousand B.Tech students will be given the opportunity to do Ph.D. in IIT and IISc.

10.Expansion of Ujjwala Scheme: Modi Government has set a target to provide the number of free LPG connections to the poor families under the Ujjwala scheme to reach 8 crores.

11.Saubhagya Yojna: The government has targeted to increase the number of power connections in rural areas to 40 million households. This scheme is one of PM Modi's ambitious plans.

12.Expansion of UDAN Yojna: 56 airports and 31 helipads being used less than the capacity will be added in the initiative to connect common man with the ‘UDAN Yojna. Along with this, the announcement of the construction of 10 major prestigious destinations for the promotion of tourism was announced.

Analysis: Union Budget 2018-19 and Economic Survey 2017-18

ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ಸಮೀಕ್ಷೆಯ ಮುಖ್ಯಾಂಶಗಳು

वित्त मंत्री अरुण जेटली ने 29 जनवरी 2018 को संसद के दोनों सदनों में आर्थिक सर्वेक्षण 2017-18 पेश किया. आर्थिक सर्वेक्षण, देश की अर्थव्यवस्था के विभिन्न क्षेत्रों से सम्बंधित आंकड़ों को बताता है. इस सर्वेक्षण के माध्यम से देश की आर्थिक स्थिति का सही आकलन किया जा सकता है. आर्थिक सर्वेक्षण को सरकार के अलावा, विद्यार्थी, शिक्षक, रिसर्च स्कॉलर और विदेशी सरकारें और विदेशी निवेशक भी बहुत ध्यान से पढ़ते है.
इस आर्थिक सर्वेक्षण के मुख्य बिंदु इस प्रकार हैं;
1. आर्थिक सर्वेक्षण-2018 में कहा गया है कि वित्त वर्ष 2018-19 के लिए आर्थिक विकास की दर 7% और 7.5% के बीच रहेगी  जबकि वित्त वर्ष 2017-18 के लिए विकास दर के 6.5% पर रहने का अनुमान लगाया गया है.
2. वित्त वर्ष 2018 के लिए कृषि विकास की दर 2.1% और इसी अवधि में उद्योग क्षेत्र की विकास दर 4.4% रहने की संभावना है.
3. वित्त वर्ष 2018 के लिए सेवा क्षेत्र की विकास दर 8.3% रहने की संभावना है जिसका फायदा आगे आने वाले वित्त वर्ष में सुधार के रूप में देखने को मिलेगा.
4. कुल बचत में निजी कॉर्पोरेट क्षेत्र का हिस्सा जो कि 2011-12 में GDP का 9.5% था; वह 2015-16 में बढ़कर GDP का 12% हो गया है.
5. वित्त वर्ष 2017-18 के लिए राजकोषीय घाटा 3.2% रहने का अनुमान लगाया गया है; जबकि कृषि की विकास दर 2.1% रह सकती है.
6. वित्त वर्ष 2018 में चालू खाता घाटा सकल घरेलू उत्पाद का 1.5 - 2% रहने की उम्मीद है, जबकि इसी अवधि में निर्यात की वृद्धि 12.1% रहने की उम्मीद है.
7. आर्थिक सर्वेक्षण में कहा गया है कि GST के लागू होने के कारण अप्रत्यक्ष कर देने वालों की संख्या में 50% की वृद्धि दर्ज की गयी है. इसमें सबसे ज्यादा वृद्धि स्वेच्छा से रजिस्ट्रेशन करने वालों की है.
8. सर्वेक्षण में यह अनुमान व्यक्त किया गया है कि यदि तेल की कीमत में 10 डॉलर प्रति बैरल की वृद्धि हो जाती है तो; यह GDP दर में 0.2-0.3% की कमी करती है, WPI आधारित मुद्रा स्फीति को 1.7% तक बढाती है और चालू खाता घाटा को लगभग 9-10 अरब डॉलर का नुकसान पहुंचता है.
9. सर्वेक्षण में कहा गया है कि भारत को 2040 तक बुनियादी ढांचा में निवेश के लिए लगभग 4.5 ट्रिलियन डॉलर की आवश्यकता होगी.
10. 'भारत नेट' और 'डिजिटल इंडिया' कार्यक्रमों का मुख्य उद्येश्य भारत को डिजिटल अर्थव्यवस्था में परिवर्तित करना है. सितंबर 2017 के अंत तक ,भारत में टेलीफोन ग्राहकों की संख्या 1207 मिलियन थी जिसमे 502 मिलियन कनेक्शन ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में और 705 मिलियन शहरी क्षेत्रों में थे.
11. 30 नवम्बर 2017 तक भारत में 330,861 मेगावाट विद्युत उत्पादन किया जाता था.
12. ग्रामीण भारत में स्वच्छता कवरेज 2014 में 39% से बढ़कर जनवरी 2018 में 76% हो गया है.
13. नवंबर 2016 से अक्टूबर, 2017 तक की अवधि में देश में औसत मुद्रास्फीति (CPI) 3.7% दर्ज हुई है.
14. भारत का विदेशी मुद्रा भंडार; दिसम्बर 2016 से दिसंबर, 2017 की अवधि में 14% की सालाना वृद्धि दर्ज करता हुआ 409.4 बिलियन अमेरिकी डॉलर तक पहुंच गया था.
15. सितम्बर 2017 के अंत तक भारत के ऊपर बाह्य ऋण (external debt) 495.7 अरब अमेरिकी डॉलर था.
इस प्रकार आपने इस सर्वेक्षण में पढ़ा कि अर्थव्यवस्था के विभिन्न क्षेत्रों की क्या स्थिति है और आगे आने वाले समय में अर्थव्यवस्था किस दिशा में आगे बढ़ेगी.

ಶನಿವಾರ, ಫೆಬ್ರವರಿ 3, 2018

ಜನವರಿ 30 ರ ಕುರಿತು ಕನ್ನಡ ಕವಿಗಳ ಸವಿಮಾತು

KannadaLiteratureProse & Poetry

ಕನ್ನಡದ ಕವಿಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಜನವರಿ ೩೦
By
Arun Meshtru -
January 30, 2018

ಜನವರಿ ೩೦.
ಮಹಾತ್ಮಾ ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರು ಹತ್ಯೆಗೀಡಾದ ದಿನ.
ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರನ್ನು ಸ್ಮರಿಸುತ್ತ, ಆ ಕಾಲದ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಕವಿಗಳು ಮಹಾತ್ಮಾ ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬರೆದ ಸಾಲುಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

ಶ್ರೀ ಪು.ತಿ.ನರಸಿಂಹಾಚಾರ್ಯರು ತಮ್ಮ “ರಸ ಸರಸ್ವತಿ” ಕವನ ಸಂಕಲನದಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದಿರುವ “ಗಾಂಧೀಸ್ತವ” ಕವನದ ಆರಂಭದಲ್ಲೇ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರನ್ನು ಹೀಗೆ ನೆನೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ:

ನೆನೆವೆನೀ ದಿನ ಪುಣ್ಯಜಾತನ ನಮ್ಮ ನಾಡವಿಧಾತನ
ಜನಪದ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯದಾತನ ಸಕಲಹೃದಯೋಪೇತನ
ನೆನೆಯುತಚ್ಚರಿಗೊಳುವ ಮಹಿಮನ ದಿವ್ಯಮಂಗಳ ಚರಿತೆಗೆ
ಕೊನೆಯ ಕೇಡಿಗೆ ದುಗುಡಗೊಳುವೆನು ರಿಕ್ತವಾದೀ ಜನತೆಗೆ!

ಆ ಕಾಲದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಕವಿಗಳೂ “ನಾಡವಿಧಾತ”ನೆಂಬ ರೂಪಕವನ್ನು ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಗೆ ಬಳಸಿದ್ದರೆನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತೆ. ಕವನವನ್ನು ಮುಂದುವರೆಸುತ್ತ ಪುತಿನ ಅವರು

ಕೇಡಿಗೆ ಕೇಡೆಣಿಸುವ ಬಗೆ ದೇವಗು ತಪ್ಪದೆನೆ
ಹಾಡುವೆವೆಂಟವತಾರದ ಗೋವಿಂದನ ಭವವ
ಈಡಾಗದೆ ಈತೆರ ಖಲಶಾಪಕೆ ಮಾತವಸಿ
ನೀಡಿದನಭಯವ ಲೋಕಕೆ – ಈತನಿಗಾವನೆಣೆ?

ಎಂದು ಹಾಡಿ ಹೊಗಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.

“ಶಿಲಾಲತೆ” ಎಂಬ ಕವನ ಸಂಕಲನದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದೇ ಶೀರ್ಷಿಕೆಯ, ಅಂದರೆ “ಗಾಂಧೀಸ್ತವನ” ಎಂಬ ಶೀರ್ಷಿಕೆಯ ಪದ್ಯವೊಂದನ್ನು ಶ್ರೀ ಕೆ.ಎಸ್.ನರಸಿಂಹಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರು ಬರೆದಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಲೋಕಸೇವೆಗೆ ಮುಡಿಪು ದೇಹವೆಂದರೆ, ಲೋಕ
ನುಡಿದವನ ದೇಹವನೆ ಬಲಿಗೊಂಡಿತು.
ನೆಲದ ನೋವನು ಅರಿತು ಅಮೃತಪಾತ್ರೆಯ ತಂದ
ದಾನಿಯನೆ ಕೈಯಾರ ಕೊಂದರಿವರು.

ಎಂದು ಮರುಗುತ್ತ, “ದೀಪವಿತ್ತು, ದೀಪವಿಲ್ಲ; ದೀಪವಿತ್ತು, ದೀಪವಿಲ್ಲ.” ಎಂದು ನೋವಿನ ಸಾಲುಗಳನ್ನು ಬರೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅಲ್ಲದೆ,

ನಿನ್ನ ಹೆಸರಿಡಬಹುದು ಬೀದಿ ಬೀದಿಗೆ, ಸುಲಭ;
ನಿನ್ನಂತೆ ಬದುಕುವುದು ದುರ್ಲಭ.
ನಿನ್ನ ಹೆಸರೆತ್ತಿದರೆ, ನಿನ್ನ ಮಾತಾಡಿದರೆ
ನಿನ್ನ ವೈರಿಗೆ ಕೂಡ ಲಾಭ.

ಎಂದು ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯ ಹೆಸರನ್ನು “ಬಳಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ” ಜನರಿಗೆನ್ನುವಂತೆ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಕನ್ನಡದ ಮೊದಲ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕವಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಎಂ. ಗೋವಿಂದ ಪೈಗಳಂತೂ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹತ್ತಾರು ಕವನಗಳನ್ನು ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. “ವಿಟಂಕ” ಕವನ ಸಂಕಲನದ “ವರುಷ ಒಂದಾಯ್ತು” ಎಂಬ ಒಂದು ಪದ್ಯ ಈ ರೀತಿ ಆರಂಭವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.

ವರುಷ ಒಂದಾಯ್ತು ನೀನಗಲಿ ನಮ್ಮಿಂದ!
ಭಾರತವ ನಿನ್ನಾತ್ಮ ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಹೋಗುವುದೆ?
ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊನೆವರಮೆನಿತೊ ಕಷ್ಟವಂ ಮಿಂದ
ನಾಗೆ ಹೂವ, ಮಹಾತ್ಮ, ಕಂಪು ನೀಗುವುದೆ?

ಈ ಕವನವನ್ನು ಹೀಗೆ ಭಾವುಕರಾಗಿ ಮುಗಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ನಿನ್ನ ಮೂರ್ತಿಯನಿಂದು ತಳೆವೆನೆದೆ ತೀವೆ
ಪ್ರಥಮಾಬ್ದಿಕದಲಿ ಬಾಷ್ಪಾಂಜಲಿಯನೀವೆ!

ಭಾರತೀಯ ಕಾವ್ಯಮೀಮಾಂಸೆಯನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಿಗೆ ದಯಪಾಲಿಸಿದ ಕವಿ ಶ್ರೀ ತಿ.ನಂ.ಶ್ರೀಕಂಠಯ್ಯನವರ “ಪೂರ್ಣಾಹುತಿ” ಕವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಗೋಡ್ಸೆಯ ಕೊಲೆಗಡುಕತನವನ್ನು ಟೀಕಿಸಿ ಕಂಬನಿ ಮಿಡಿಯುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ದ್ವೇಷಮಾರಿಯ ಮಹಾತೃಷೆಗೆ ತರ್ಪಣವಾಗಿ
ಸುರಿಸಿದನೆ ಈ ಪ್ರೇಮನಿಧಿಯ ರಕ್ತವನು,
ಸಲಿಸಿದನೆ ಕಾಣಿಕೆಗೆ ಇವನ ಪ್ರಾಣವನು,
ಉರಿಸಿದನೆ ಜಗದಳಲ ಕಕ್ಕಡವನು!

ದ್ವೇಷವೆಂಬ ಮಾರಿಯು ಕೈಯನ್ನು ಬಿರುಸು ಮಾಡುವುದಲ್ಲದೆ ಮನಸ್ಸನ್ನು ಹೊಲಸು ಮಾಡುವುದೆಂದು ಕೊಲೆಗಾರನನ್ನು ಕಠೋರವಾಗಿ ಟೀಕಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಕೈಯೆಂತು ಬಿರುಸಾಯ್ತೊ, ಮನವೆಂತು ಹೊಲಸಾಯ್ತೊ,
ಕೊಲೆಗಾರನರಿವೆಂತು ವಿಲಯವಾಯ್ತೊ?
ಭಾರತದ ಕಣ್‍ಬೆಳಕು ನಂದಿಹೋಯ್ತೋ!

ಶ್ರೀ ಕಯ್ಯಾರ ಕಿಞ್ಞಣ್ಣ ರೈ ಅವರ “ಹೇ ರಾಮ” ಎಂಬ ಸುದೀರ್ಘ ಕವನದಲ್ಲಿ “ನಾವೆಂಥ ಪಾಪಿಜನ!” ಎಂಬ ಮಾತು ನೋವಿನಿಂದ ಬರುತ್ತದೆ.

ಹೊಡೆದೆವೋ ಹೊಡೆತದಲಿ ನೋಯದನ.
ಕೊಂದೆವೋ ಕೊಲಬಾರದೆಂದವನ,
ಸುಟ್ಟೆವೋ ಬೆಂಕಿಯಲಿ ಸುಡದವನ,
ಮರೆತೆವೋ ನಾವ್ ಮರೆಯಬಾರದನ
ಕಳೆದೆವಯ್ಯೋ ಕಳಕೊಳ್ಳಬಾರದನ
ಹೇರಾಮS ನಾವೆಂಥ ಪಾಪಿಜನ!

ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀರಾಮನಂತೆಯೇ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯೂ ಸಹ ಎನ್ನುವಂತಹ ಮಾತು ಬರುತ್ತದೆ.

ಹೇರಾಮS ಕೈ ಮುಗಿಯುತ ನಿಂತೆ,
ಹೇರಾಮS ಮೈ ನಡುಗುವುದಂತೆ;
ಹೇರಾಮS ಕಂಬನಿಯೊಸರಿತ್ತೆ?
ಹೇರಾಮS ನನಗಿದುವೇ ಚಿಂತೆ;
ಹೇರಾಮS ನಮಗಾಗಿಯೆ ಸತ್ತೆ;
ಹೇರಾಮS ನಿನಗಾಗಿಯೆ ಅತ್ತೆ!

ಕವಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೆ.ಎಸ್.ನಿಸಾರ್ ಅಹಮದ್‍ರವರು ತಮ್ಮ “ಸಂಜೆ ಐದರ ಮಳೆ“ಯ “ಬಾಪೂ” ಎಂಬ ಕವನದ ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಾಪೂರನ್ನು ಒಂದು ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೀಗೆ ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ:

ನಿನಗಿಂತ ಹಿರಿಯರನು ಕಾಣೆ ಮಹಾತ್ಮ
ಮಿತಿಮೀರಿ ಏರಿರುವೆ, ಬಾಳಿಗೆ ದಕ್ಕದೆ ಮೀರಿರುವೆ –
ವಾಸ್ತವತೆ ನಾನು ಆದರ್ಶ ನೀನು.
ಲೋಕವನೆ ದಹಿಸಿರುವ ಸೂರ್ಯನಿಗೆ ತಡೆಯಾಗಿ
ನಿನ್ನ ಕೊಡೆ ನೆತ್ತಿಯನು ಕಾಯುತಿರಲಿ;
ಕಾದ ಹಾದಿಯ ನಡೆಯೆ ಸ್ವಾನುಭವ ಕೆರವಾಗಿ
ಸ್ವಂತ ಜೀವನದೊಡನೆ ತೇಯುತಿರಲಿ.

“ಕಟ್ಟುವೆವು ನಾವು” ಕವನ ಸಂಕಲನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕವಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಗೋಪಾಲಕೃಷ್ಣ ಅಡಿಗರು “ಭಾರತದ ತಂದೆ ಗಾಂಧಿ” ಎಂಬ ಸುದೀರ್ಘ ಕವನವೊಂದನ್ನು ರಚಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕವನದ ಮೊದಲೆರಡು ಭಾಗಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರ ಜೀವನದ ಚಿತ್ರಣವು ಮೂಡಿದ್ದರೆ, ಮೂರನೆಯ ಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯ ಸಾವಿನಿಂದಾದ ನೋವು ತುಂಬಿದೆ.

ಬರಸಿಡಿಲಂತೆರಗಿತು: ಹಾ! ಕೊಲೆಗಡುಕನ ಕೈ
ಜರಾಜೀರ್ಣ, ತ್ಯಾಗಶೀರ್ಣ ಎಲುಬುಗೂಡು ಮೈ
ಬಿತ್ತು ಕೆಳಗೆ, ಬಿದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ
ನ್ಯಾಯಸತ್ಯದಯಾಧರ್ಮದೊಂದೆ ಆಧಾರವು;
ನಮ್ಮ ತಲೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಬಿತ್ತು
ನಮ್ಮ ಪಾಪಭಾರವು!

ಪದ್ಯದ ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಚಕರಿಗೆ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯ ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಗೋಣವೆಂದು ಹೀಗೆ ಕರೆ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಾರೆ ಅಡಿಗರು:

ಅವನ ದಾರಿಯೊಂದೆ ದಾರಿ; ಉಳಿದುದೆಲ್ಲ ಹಳುವವು;
ಅವನ ಗುರಿಯೆ ಗುರಿಯು, ಉಳಿದುದೆಲ್ಲ ವಿಫಲ ಚಪಲವು!

ಶ್ರೀ ಎ.ಎನ್.ಮೂರ್ತಿರಾಯರು ತಮ್ಮ ಆತ್ಮಕಥನವಾದ “ಸಂಜೆಗಣ್ಣಿನ ಹಿನ್ನೋಟ“ದಲ್ಲಿ “1948ರ ವಿದ್ಯಮಾನಗಳು” ಎಂಬ ಒಂದು ಅಧ್ಯಾಯವನ್ನೇ ಬರೆದಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅಹಿಂಸಾತತ್ತ್ವವು ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತವೋ ಅಪ್ರಸ್ತುತವೋ ಎಂಬ ವೈಚಾರಿಕತೆಯನ್ನೂ ಚರ್ಚಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆದರೆ ಗಾಂಧೀಹತ್ಯೆಯಾದ ನಂತರದ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತಮ್ಮ ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಾದ ಅನುಭವವನ್ನು ಹೀಗೆ ನೆನಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ:

“ಆ ದಿನ (ಗಾಂಧೀಹತ್ಯೆಯಾದ ದಿನ) ಕಳೆದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಾನು ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡ ಮೊದಲ ಒಂದೆರಡು ತರಗತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಡುಗರು “ಇವತ್ತು ಪಾಠ ಬೇಡ ಸಾರ್, ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರ ವಿಷಯ ಹೇಳಿ” ಎಂದರು. ನನಗೂ ಪಾಠ ಬೇಕಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ, ಹೃದಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುದಿಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದುದನ್ನು ಹೊರಹಾಕುವುದು ಆವಶ್ಯಕವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಭಾವನೆಗಳು ಉಕ್ಕಿಬಂದವು. ಅವತ್ತು ನಾನು ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೊರಟಾಗ ಆರೇಳು ಜನ ಹುಡುಗರು ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರ ಬದುಕನ್ನೂ ತತ್ತ್ವಗಳನ್ನೂ ಕುರಿತು ಮಾತಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಮನೆವರೆಗೂ ಬಂದರು..” (ಮುಂದಿನ ಸಾಲುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅಹಿಂಸೆಯನ್ನು ಅನುಸರಿಸುವುದು ಹೇಗೆ, ಅದು ಸಾಧ್ಯವೋ ಇಲ್ಲವೋ, ಮತ್ತು ಈ ವಿಷಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಆ ಕ್ಷಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಲೇಖಕರಿಗೆ ಸಮರ್ಪಕವಾದ ಉತ್ತರವನ್ನು ಕೊಡಲು ಆಗಲಿಲ್ಲವೆಂಬ ವಿಷಯವು ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯ ಮೂಲತತ್ವವು ದ್ವೇಷವಿಲ್ಲವಿರುವುದು ಎಂಬ ವಿವರಣೆಯನ್ನು ನೀಡುತ್ತಾರೆ).

ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕವಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಕುವೆಂಪುರವರು “ದಿವಂಗತ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪಿತ” ಎಂಬ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು (ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರ ನಿಧನದ ಮರುದಿನ ಸಂಜೆ ಮೈಸೂರು ಆಕಾಶವಾಣಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಿದ ಪ್ರಸಾರ ಭಾಷಣ) ಹೀಗೆ ಆರಂಭಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ:

ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪಿತ ದಿವಂಗತ
ಉನ್ಮತ್ತ ಹಸ್ತ ಹತ!
ನರಹೃದಯದ ವಿಷವಾರ್ಧಿಗೆ
ಜೀವಾಮೃತ ಸಮರ್ಪಿತ!
ಕ್ಷಮಿಸು, ಓ ಜಗತ್ ಪಿತ:
ಅದೃಷ್ಟ ಹೀನ ಭಾರತ!

ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರ ಹತ್ಯೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೀಗೊಂದು ಮಾತನ್ನು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ ಕುವೆಂಪುರವರು: “ಈ ಪಾಪಕರ್ಮಕ್ಕೆ ತಕ್ಕ ತಪಸ್ಯೆಯಿಂದ ಪಶ್ಚಾತ್ತಾಪದಿಂದ ಪ್ರಾಯಶ್ಚಿತ್ತ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳದಿದ್ದರೆ ನಮಗೆ ಯೇಸು ಕ್ರಿಸ್ತನನ್ನು ಮೊಳೆ ಹೊಡೆದು ಕೊಂದ ಜನಾಂಗಕ್ಕಾಗಿರುವ ದುರ್ಗತಿಯೇ ಒದಗುತ್ತದೆಯೋ ಏನೋ ಎಂದು ಹೆದರಿಕೆಯಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ!”

“ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಗಾಗಿ ನಾವು ಅಳಬೇಕಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ನಮ್ಮ ದುರದೃಷ್ಟಕ್ಕಾಗಿಯಾದರೂ ಅಳುತ್ತಾ ಕೂರುವುದು ಅವಿವೇಕವೆ! ಈಶ್ವರನ ಲೀಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇಂತಹ ಘಟನೆ ಮೊತ್ತಮೊದಲನೆಯದಲ್ಲವೆಂದೂ ತೋರುತ್ತದೆ. ಶ್ರೀಕೃಷ್ಣನು ಎಂತಹ ದುರಂತ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೃತನಾದನೆಂಬುದನ್ನು ಊಹಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ. ಶ್ರೀರಾಮಚಂದ್ರನಿಗೆ ಕೊನೆ ಬಂದ ಪರಿಯನ್ನು ನೆನೆಯಿರಿ. ಶ್ರೀ ಕ್ರಿಸ್ತನು ಎಂತಹ ದುರ್ಮರಣಕ್ಕೀಡಾದನು ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ಪರ್ಯಾಲೋಚಿಸಿ. ನಮಗೆ ಅನರ್ಥವಾಗಿ ತೋರುವುದು ಈಶ್ವರನ ಸಮದೃಷ್ಟಿಗೆ ಅರ್ಥಪೂರ್ಣವೂ ಸಾರ್ಥಕವೂ ಆಗಿರಬಾರದೇನು? ಮಹಾತ್ಮರೇ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು: ’ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಕೊಲ್ಲುವ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯ ಇರುವುದು ಈಶ್ವರನೊಬ್ಬನಿಗೇ’ ಎಂದು. ಕೊಂದವನು ಯಃಕಶ್ಚಿತ ಮನುಷ್ಯನಾದರೂ ಅಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ರುದ್ರನ ಹಸ್ತವನ್ನು ಕಾಣಬಹುದು.” ಎಂದು ಇಡೀ ಘಟನೆಯನ್ನು ತತ್ತ್ವದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದ ನೋಡುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ನಂತರದ “ಬಾಪೂಜಿಗೆ ಬಾಷ್ಪಾಂಜಲಿ” ಎಂಬ ಲೇಖನದಲ್ಲಿ (ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರ ಅಸ್ಥಿವಿಸರ್ಜನೆಯ ನಂತರ ಮೈಸೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಿದ ಭಾಷಣ) ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯನ್ನು ಸ್ಮರಿಸುತ್ತ, “ಹೇ ಲೋಕಗುರು, ನಮ್ಮ ಮುನ್ನಡೆಗೆ ಮಾರ್ಗದರ್ಶಕ ಪರಂಜ್ಯೋತಿಯಾಗು. ಕವಿದಿರುವ ಈ ಕತ್ತಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿನ್ನ ಕಿರಣ ಹಸ್ತದಿಂದ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಕೈ ಹಿಡಿದು ನಡಸು. ನಮ್ಮ ಹೃದಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಡೆಯೆತ್ತಿರುವ ಕ್ರೋಧ ಹಿಂಸೆ ಪ್ರತೀಕಾರಾದಿ ಅಹಂಕಾರ ಸರ್ಪಗಳಿಗೆ ಗರುಡಮಣಿಯಾಗಿ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ರಕ್ಷಿಸು. ಅಸತ್ತಿನಿಂದ ಸತ್ತಿಗೆ, ತಮಸ್ಸಿನಿಂದ ಜ್ಯೋತಿಗೆ, ಮೃತ್ಯುವಿನಿಂದ ಅಮೃತಕ್ಕೆ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಕೊಂಡೊಯ್!” ಎಂದು ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಶ್ರೀ ಶಿವರಾಮ ಕಾರಂತರು ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬರೆದ ಪ್ರಬಂಧದ ಶೀರ್ಷಿಕೆ: “ಬದುಕಿದಾಗ ಮುಳ್ಳಿನ ಹಾಸಿಗೆ, ಬದುಕಿನ ಬಳಿಕ ಹೂವಿನ ಹಾಸಿಗೆ” ಎಂದು. ಪ್ರಬಂಧದುದ್ದಕ್ಕೂ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರ ಹತ್ಯೆಯನ್ನು ಖಂಡಿಸುತ್ತ, ಅಂತಹ ಕೃತ್ಯವನ್ನೆಸಗುವುದು “ಪಶುಸ್ವಭಾವ”ವೆನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಪ್ರಬಂಧದ ಒಂದು ಹಂತದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೀಗೆ ಬರೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ:

“ತುಸು, ತುಸುವಾಗಿ ಅನೇಕ ಬಗೆಯಿಂದ ನಾವು ಅವರನ್ನು ಚುಚ್ಚಿದ್ದೇವೆ, ಗಾಯಗೊಳಿಸಿದ್ದೇವೆ, ಸಾಯಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ ಮಾತ್ರ!” ಎಂದು.

ಪ್ರಬಂಧವನ್ನು ಮುಂದುವರೆಸುತ್ತ ಕಾರಂತರು ಹೀಗೆನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ:

“ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಯವರನ್ನು ಅವರು ಬೇಡವೆಂದರೂ, ನಾವು ಮಹಾತ್ಮರನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿದೆವು. ನಮಗೆ ಅವರನ್ನು ಅನುಕರಿಸುವ ಇಷ್ಟವಿದ್ದಿಲ್ಲವಾದರೂ, ಅನುಕರಿಸದೆ ಹೋದರೂ, ಅವರನ್ನು ದೇವರನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿದೆವು. ಸಾವಿನ ಬಳಿಕವಂತೂ, ಯಾವ ದೇವರಿಗೂ ದೊರೆಯದ ಸನ್ಮಾನ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸಲ್ಲುವುದು ನಿಶ್ಚಯ.”

“ಎಂದೋ ಕೊಲ್ಲಬಹುದಾಗಿದ್ದ ಅವರನ್ನು, ಮೊನ್ನೆ ದಿನ, ನಮಸ್ಕರಿಸಿದ ಕೈಯೇ ಕೊಂದಿತು. ಈ ಮಾತು ಅಕ್ಷರಶಃ ನಿಜವಾಗಿರುವಂತೆ ವಿಶಾಲಾರ್ಥದಲ್ಲೂ ನಿಜವಾದುದೇ!” ಎಂಬ ಕಾರಂತರ ಈ ಮಾತು ಮನಮುಟ್ಟುವ ಹಾಗಿದೆ.

ಪ್ರಬಂಧದ ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ,

“ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಕೆಲವೇ ಮಂದಿ ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಯಬಲ್ಲರು; ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಂದಿ ಅವರನ್ನು ಅನುಕರಿಸಬಲ್ಲರು. ಬಹುಮಂದಿ ಮಾಡಬಹುದಾದ ಒಂದೇ ಒಂದು ಕೆಲಸ – ಅವರ ’ಜಯಘೋಷ!’ ನಾವು ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿದ ಹೂವಿನ ಹಾಸಿಗೆಯೆಲ್ಲ (ಮರಣದ ಬಳಿಕ) ಅದಕ್ಕೇನೆ. ಜಯಘೋಷ, ಸಂತಾಪ ಸೂಚನೆಗಳಿಂದಲೇ ನಾವು ಅವರಿಗೆ ಕೃತಜ್ಞತೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿ – ಮರೆತು ಬಿಡುವವರು!” ಎಂದು ಕಾರಂತರು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಈ ಮಾತುಗಳು ಈ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೂ ಸತ್ಯವೆಂದು ತೋರುತ್ತದೆ.

– ಅ
30.01.2018

ಕೃಪೆ:- ಬ್ಯಾಂಗಲೂರಿಜಮ್(Bangaloorism)