NEW DELHI: THE finance minister has set the ball rolling for the next generation of reforms in the budget as she said that the government will formulate an Economic Policy Framework for reforms for facilitating employment opportunities and high growth.
The reforms will cover all factors of production, namely land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship, and technology as an enabler of improving total factor productivity and bridging inequality.
“Our government will initiate and incentivise reforms for improving productivity of factors of production, and facilitating markets and sectors to become more efficient,” said the finance minister in her budget speech. The focus of the reforms will be land, labour and capital for entrepreneurship.
Land Reforms
Over the next t hree years, state governments will receive fiscal support to incentivise the completion of crucial reforms. These reforms include rural land actions under which the government plans to assign Unique Land Parcel Identification Numbers (ULPIN) to all lands, digitise cadastral maps, and establish a land registry linked to farmers’ registries.
Urban land records will undergo digitization through GIS mapping, and an IT-based system for property record administration and tax management will be established to support urban local bodies’ financial stability.
Labour reforms
The government announced the integration of the e-shram portal with additional services to create a one-stop solution for job seekers and skill programmes. The revamped Shram Suvidha and Samadhan portals will streamline compliance processes for industries to navigate labour laws.
Under capital and entrepreneurship reforms, the government plans to bring a financial sector vision and strategy document for meeting financing needs of the economy. “This will set the agenda for the next 5 years and guide the government, regulators, financial institutions and market participants,” said Sitharaman.