Employees thank Prime Minister for allowing standard deduction of Rs 40,000
A delegation of officials of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), called on the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh here today. The officials thanked the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for incorporating their issues in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley yesterday.
The delegation was led by the DoPT Secretary Shri Ajay Mittal. The members thanked the Government for allowing them a Standard Deduction of Rs 40,000 p.a. for salaried individuals on Income Tax in lieu of the existing transport allowance and reimbursement of medical expenses. They also thanked the Government for taking various other welfare measures for the employees in the last three years.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that this is for the first time that a Government has acknowledged the contribution of the salaried class which is contributing the bulk of income tax collections throughout the country and accordingly, certain exemptions such as standard deduction of Rs 40,000 has been announced specifically for this class.
Shri Singh said that the finance Minister also deserves to be lauded for having addressed the other issues of various sections and regions of the country. He also expressed happiness at the announcement of Rs 10,000 crore as “Fishery Fund” which will also benefit the people in Northeast. Bamboo Mission has a special significance for Northeast and the announcement made by the Finance Minister is a vindication of the Union Government’s continued commitment to the development of the remote regions. He said that the senior citizens faced the issues of late-age illness, lack of caretakers for help and financial constraint. He said that this has been taken care of by exemption of the interest on bank account from income tax up to Rs.50,000, enhancement of the health insurance amount up to Rs.50,000 and hike in medical expenditure. The budget is common man friendly and addresses issues of all sections, he added.
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