Nirmala Sitharaman presents her second budget, says Indians should be gainfully employed

New Delhi, Feb 1 (KNN) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has started the budget speech of the second term of the Narendra Modi government with paying tribute to late Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at the start of her Budget speech.

She remembers Jaitley's contributions towards bringing the GST regime.

"Our people should be gainfully employed, our businesses should be healthy, for all minorities, women and people from SCs and STs, this Budget aims to fulfill their aspirations," she said.

"With renewed vigour, under PM's leadership, we commit ourselves to present the people of India with all humility and dedication. People have reposed faith in our economic policy, she added.

Ahead of the Budget, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance, Anurag Thakur, offered prayers at his residence. As Sitharaman presents Modi 2.0's second Budget, India faces a severe economic crisis, and the country's GDP has declined to a six-year low of 4.5 per cent (Q2 of 2019-20).

Consumer sentiment is at an all-time low and all pillars of the economy are in the red. Experts believe it'll be a huge task for the Finance Minister to strike a balance between a "fiscally prudent" Budget and a Budget for the masses.

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