One of the intended objectives of the Union Budget 2017-18 is to ‘transform, energise and clean India’. Analyse the measures proposed in the Budget 2017-18 to achieve the objective.
Approach · directive: “analyse”
What it asks · Go through the Budget 2017-18's proposals under its 'Transform, Energise and Clean India' agenda and assess how each set of measures serves the aim.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Analyse the Budget 2017-18 measures under each strand of the objective: Transform, Energise and Clean India
- Assess how far these measures, within a prudent fiscal frame, can achieve the objective
Open with · The Budget's guiding agenda of ‘TEC India’ grouped its proposals under ten themes, including farmers, rural India, youth, infrastructure, the digital economy and prudent finance.
Cover
- Transform (farmers and rural India): a higher farm credit target, a micro-irrigation fund with NABARD, a record MGNREGA allocation and rural housing and roads.
- Transform (youth and the poor): skill centres and education reform, health and social sector outlay, and Mission Antyodaya to make gram panchayats poverty-free.
- Energise (infrastructure): more for roads, ports and railways, a rail safety fund, infrastructure status for affordable housing and a merged Railway Budget.
- Energise (economy): a push to digital payments, abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and easier approvals for investment.
- Clean (money and politics): curbs on large cash transactions, a cap on anonymous cash donations to political parties and the announcement of electoral bonds.
- Prudent finance: a fiscal deficit target of 3.2 per cent of GDP for 2017-18, and an earlier Budget date with a single, merged exercise.
- Assessment: the measures target growth, jobs and transparency; results depend on implementation, revenue mobilisation and whether spending reaches the intended groups.
Close with · The Budget combined welfare, infrastructure and clean-economy measures; its success will be measured by delivery on the ground rather than by allocations.
Add value (verified)
- Budget 2017-18 speech: MGNREGA allocation raised from Rs 38,500 crore (2016-17) to Rs 48,000 crore, the highest ever. Union Budget 2017-18 — Budget Speech of Arun Jaitley, 1 February 2017 (para 36) ↗“48,000 crores in 2017-18. This is the highest ever allocation for MGNREGA. The initiative to geo-tag all MGNREGA assets and putting them in public domain has established greater transparency”
- Budget 2017-18 speech: Mission Antyodaya to bring one crore households out of poverty and make 50,000 gram panchayats poverty-free by 2019. Union Budget 2017-18 — Budget Speech of Arun Jaitley, 1 February 2017 (para 33) ↗“we will undertake a Mission Antyodaya to bring one crore households out of poverty and to make 50,000 gram panchayats poverty free by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhiji”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 349 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
The Union Budget 2017-18, presented on 1 February with the Railway Budget merged into it, grouped its proposals under a ten-theme agenda summed up as 'Transform, Energise and Clean India' (TEC India).
Transform: farmers, villages, the poor
- Agricultural credit target raised to a record Rs 10 lakh crore, with special effort for under-served eastern States; a dedicated micro-irrigation fund with NABARD.
- MGNREGA allocation raised to Rs 48,000 crore, its highest ever, alongside larger outlays for rural roads and housing.
- Mission Antyodaya to bring one crore households out of poverty and make 50,000 gram panchayats poverty-free by 2019.
- Youth and the poor: new skill centres, education reform and higher outlays on health and sanitation.
Energise: infrastructure and enterprise
- Record capital outlay for roads, ports and railways; a Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh of Rs 1 lakh crore over five years for passenger safety.
- Affordable housing given infrastructure status, opening cheaper long-term finance for low-cost homes.
- Foreign Investment Promotion Board abolished, since over 90 per cent of FDI already came through the automatic route; incentives for BHIM-based digital payments.
Clean: black money and political funding
- No cash transaction above Rs 3 lakh, as the Special Investigation Team on black money advised; cash donations to charitable trusts capped at Rs 2,000.
- Cash donations to political parties limited to Rs 2,000 per donor, donations by cheque or digital mode, and electoral bonds announced.
Prudent finance and assessment
- Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.2 per cent of GDP for 2017-18 with 3 per cent promised for the next year; the advanced Budget date lets spending start on 1 April.
- The measures aim squarely at rural demand, jobs and transparency, but outcomes hinge on the quality of MGNREGA assets, States' capacity to spend, credit reaching small rather than large farmers, and revenue buoyancy in the year GST was rolled out.
- Electoral bonds curb cash but keep donors anonymous, so the claim to 'clean' politics depends on how the scheme is designed.
The Budget married welfare, infrastructure and clean-economy measures within a credible fiscal frame; whether it transformed, energised and cleaned India rests on delivery, not on allocations.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.