What's there for the salaried in the budget

In a move that will bring major cheer to the salaried class, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 2016 speech on Monday announced that the tax relief on House Rent Allowance (HRA) will be raised from Rs 24,000 per annum to Rs 60,000 per annum. Those earning up to Rs 5 lakh a year will now get a tax relief of Rs 5,000, up from Rs 2,000 previously. This hike in relief effectively raises the basic exemption for these taxpayers to up to Rs 3 lakh. The relief was introduced in budget 2013 and was retained in the past two budgets. Focusing on education and job creation through skill development, Jaitley spoke of the importance of quality education. "We are committed to empowering higher educational institutions. We want to ensure affordable access to quality education," he said. "We plan to set up a higher education financing body. We will set aside Rs 1000 crore for this not-for-profit organisation," he said. Jaitley also spoke of 'Skill India' and said, "Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, we plan to set aside Rs 1700 crore for skill institutions. National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth. About 1500 Multi skill training institutes will be set up. "The idea is to capitalise the demographic advantages. The objective is to skill 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana," he added.