The Union Budget 2025-26 is set to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman next month, and almost all segments of society, encompassing taxpayers, various industries, and trade unions, are anticipating the introduction of relief measures from the government.
Some industry bodies have already started submitting their demands to the finance minister. In their customary pre-budget meeting with the FM on Monday, trade union leaders have suggested a super-rich tax apart from an increase in corporate tax to fund social security for informal workers.
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) — the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated trade union — has given a slew of suggestions to the FM, including a demand to ‘raise the income threshold for income tax to Rs 10 lakh with exemptions existing as of now’, and immediately notify the Code on Wages, 2019 and the Code on Social Security, 2020.
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It has urged the FM to consider raising the minimum pensions for EPS-95 pensioners from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 as an initial measure, followed by an adjustment to 50 percent of the minimum wages as announced, with a connection to the Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA). Furthermore, it is proposed that the Ayushman Bharat scheme be extended to EPS-95 pensioners. Additionally, it is recommended that old age pensions be made available to all individuals.
According to various reports, BMS has also demanded removal of ‘anti-worker’ provisions from the other two labour codes—on industrial relations, and on occupational safety, health and working conditions—before they are notified.
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