01291nam a22001337a 4500 533232 533232 260430b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Lalvani, Mala and Karnik, Ajit 60349 Are Kartavyas any different from ‘priorities’ of 2025–26? Economic & Political Weekly 61(15), Apr 11, 2026: p.13-18 Despite apprehensions about deficit targets, the finance minister sprung a surprise in adhering to the targets for 2025–26. We examine how this was achieved and find that many kinds of expenditures had to be compressed. A new set of ideas, labelled as kartavyas (duties), was presented in the Union Budget 2026–27. The seven priorities of the previous budget have been consigned to the past and are ignored in the budget speech of 2026–27. Given the lower projected tax revenue/GDP ratio for 2026–27, and the excessive dependence on the surplus from RBI and other financial institutions, it would not be surprising if the kartavyas meet the same fate of cutbacks, as happened in the case of the “seven priorities” of the previous budget. –Reproduced https://www.epw.in/journal/2026/15/budget-2026-27/are-kartavyas-any-different-priorities-2025-26.html Economic & Political Weekly AR 0 0 ddc 0 0 408402 IIPA IIPA 2026-04-30 61(15), Apr 11, 2026: p.13-18 AR138743 2026-04-30 AR