With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the Government on Friday during the interim Budget 2019 announcing a slew of populist measures to woo the middle class, farmers, small traders and pensioners as was widely expected ahead of the polls.

Officiating Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the budget in the Parliament.

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Beginning his speech, Goyal said India is solidly back on track and was marching towards realising a ‘New India’ by 2022.

Here are the top five poll announcements

1: Direct income support of Rs 6000 per year for marginal farmers

The Government on Friday announced the “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi” scheme that would provide direct income support for small farmers.

“Under the PMKSN, Rs 6000 per year will be transferred directly to each farmers’ bank accounts in three instalments for farmers with less than 2 hectares landholding,” he said.

Goyal added that the initiative will benefit 12 crore small and marginal farmers.

2: Farmer income support plan

Claiming that the NDA government has given maximum benefits to the farmers, Goyal said the payout will be carried out in three instalments, where the first Rs 2000 payout would be done soon.

3: Zero tax up to the annual income of Rs 5 lakh 

The Government announced a complete tax rebate for people with annual income up to Rs five lakh. This will provide a tax benefit of Rs 18,500 crore rupees to an estimated three crore middle-class taxpayers comprising self-employed, small business, small traders, salary earners, pensioners and senior citizens

Also, taxpayers with a gross income of Rs 6.5 lakh are not required to pay any tax if they make investments in provident funds and prescribed equities.

Under the existing tax rates, individuals earning up to Rs 2.5 lakh are not required to pay any taxes whereas those earning between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh are taxed at 10 per cent.

The minister, however, said that the existing tax rates will continue for FY 19-20.

For salaried persons, standard deduction is being raised from current Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.

Goyal also raised the TDS threshold on interest earned on bank and post office deposits from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 to benefit the unemployed women and pensioners who keep money in banks.

The TDS threshold on deduction of tax on rent was also increased from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 2.4 lakh.

4: Rs 60,000 crore for MNREGA

The Government has allocated Rs 60,000 crore for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme for 2019-20 which promises unskilled manual work to every adult for at least 100 days in rural parts of the country.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme was allocated Rs 55,000 crore for the fiscal year 2018-19.

5: Mega pension plan for unorganised sector workers

The Government announced the “Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan” scheme to ensure fixed monthly pension to 10 crore unorganized sector workers.

The pension scheme is set to start this month, Goyal informed.