The interim budget, presented by the Finance Minister Chidambaram
today, is a political gimmick to camouflage its continued thrust of
pro-corporate economic regime and anti-people bias.
In the run up to the forthcoming general elections, the Finance
Minister seeks to project so called “aam admi” orientation by comparing
the present expenditures/allocations on health, education and other
developmental heads with the figures of ten-years back. By doing so the
FM seeks to cleverly hide the truth that in the successive budgets of
UPA-II Govt, the budgetary pro-people allocations were not deliberately
spent aiming to contain the fiscal deficit. Even in the current year
(2013-14), central plan outlay on rural development head has been cut
drastically by Rs 5792 crore; in irrigation and flood control by Rs. 800
crore; in transport by Rs 24,359 crore; social services by Rs 28,640
crore and industry & minerals by Rs 11,843 crore; and also the
central plan outlay was cut for the Health & Family Welfare Ministry
Rs 7000 crore, Education (Human Resource) Ministry by Rs 4000 crore and
Social Justice & Empowerment Ministry by Rs 1000 crore. Over all
cut in central plan outlay was Rs 66,000 crore only to contain fiscal
deficit to 4.6% and claiming credit for stabilizing the economy! All
these expenditure would have contributed to income and employment
generation to common people.
How the Govt, which is so focused on containing fiscal deficit could
continue to allow pilferage in national exchequer by keeping due
corporate tax and income tax from the corporate-big business lobby
unrecovered? The tax-dues is to the tune of Rs 5.10 lakh crore as in
December 2013. These dues are over and above the tax concessions granted
to them on “revenue-foregone” account of around Rs 2.8 lakh crore only
on account of corporate and income tax. The Govt laments on fiscal
deficit only squeeze expenditure on peoples’ welfare.
The interim budget contains nothing on relief to the working people
who generates GDP for the country and revenue for the national exchequer
keeping the national economy afloat. The written statement of the Prime
Minister in the 45th Session of the Indian Labour Conference that the
demands of the trade unions were “unexceptionable” and the demands like
universal coverage of social security benefits and national minimum wage
“are in advance stages of consideration”, found no reflection in the
budget reducing the prime minister’s statement to mere sound-bites.
Despite assurances on different occasions no relief has been announced
for the scheme workers who are not even getting minimum wages.
The budget’s major focus remains on further concessions to corporate
and big-business lobby, both domestic and foreign, through tax
concessions on the plea of promoting investment. Investment can expand
only with expansion of market through increasing purchasing power of
people. But, market can no way be expanded by squeezing developmental
and welfare expenditures with ongoing gloom and widening poverty,
further burdened by increasing food inflation. It was rather necessary
to contain non-essential imports by raising import duty to contain
current account deficit and also to boost the domestic industries. But
Budget refused to take a call.
The UPA-II Govt ‘s blind approach to run the economy only by
pampering corporates, both
domestic and foreign, is bound to aggravate
the gloom and crisis further. This is clear from the very fact that
despite sizable growth in agricultural GDP by 4.6%, over all GDP cannot
be estimated beyond 4.8 as the non-agricultural sector is in the midst
of stagnation heading for decline. Complete reversal of the present
economic policy regime is the only way if the country and the people are
to advance.
CITU denounces the anti-people interim budget of the UPA-II Govt and
calls upon the working people to heighten their struggle for reversal of
the anti-people policy regime.
