There is talk of a fresh approach to a new labour code as well as reforming land acquisition laws in such a way as to be politically acceptable across the board although, with a bigger majority this time, the need for wider support may be less necessary. But the obstacle standing in the way of land acquisition reform is the pressing need for a pre-requisite judicial overhaul. Without this, new land and labour contracts will get stuck. “There are so many pending cases from the apex court to the lower courts. One way the backlogs can be cleared is by increasing the manpower of the judicial system. Work on this will start in the first 100 days,” said an official. On the expenditure and fiscal front, Finance Ministry officials have suggested rationalising subsidy expenditure and reducing the number of schemes supported by the Centre. This assumes importance since the government has to focus on maintaining its fiscal deficit at 3.4 per cent of GDP in the current financial year, the same as the one projected for FY’19. Already the fiscal deficit target for FY’19 has been surpassed by 34 per cent till February. Maintaining the fiscal deficit has to be done despite new schemes and announcements that are expected for fisheries, insurance cover and credit card for traders and the extension of the PM Kisan scheme to landless farmers, all of which will lead to higher expenditure outlays.