EDITORIAL - BHARTIYA POST - AUGUST 2014

FIRST BUDGET – NO DA MERGER, NO INTERIM RELIEF 

Central Government employees have been eagerly awaiting the first budget of the new Government in spite of one day strike and two days strike, the UPA Government was not ready to concede the genuine and justified demands of the Central Government Employees. Naturally, employees expected some good news from the maiden budget of NDA Government. But the budget has cast shadow on their expectations. Not only the Central Government employees but the common people and the working class are also totally disappointed. 

The Union budget 2014-15, is an exercise in piloting large scale FDI & PPP mode in the financial and policy governance of the country. If followed the same policy of trajectory deregulation, privatization and corporate-orientation so long followed by its predecessor, the UPA Government, which has been rejected by the people in election. 

While engineering a drastic cut in expenditure on almost all heads impacting common people aimed at containing fiscal deficit, the budget remained reluctant in taking any action in arresting organised pilferage from public exchequer in the form of deliberate tax default by big corporate houses which reached a huge sum of Rs. 4.18 lakh crores on account of Corporate tax Income tax by the end of 2012-13. 

Added to this, the decision to constitute the Expenditure Management Commission to look into basically the subsidies for common people aiming at further deduction in the same Budget has already proposed a cut in subsidy on petroleum to the tune of Rs. 22054 crores which would have a cascading effect on prices of all goods. Further the budget announced total decontrol of diesel pricing before the end of the current financial year adding further to the woes of the common people. The budget reduced the direct tax leading to a revenue loss of Rs. 22200 crore while increasing the indirect tax burden to the tune of Rs. 7525 crore. 

The Budget announced raising of FDI cap in defence and insurance sector from existing 26% to 49% much to the detriment of the interests of national economy. The target for revenue from public sector Undertakings (PSU) disinvestment has been set at a huge amount of Rs. 63000 crore and the Finance Minister has announced that instead of earning dividend from PSUs. Number of measures have been incorporated in the Budget to actually weaken the public sector Banks making them easy prey of privatization policy of the Government. 

On a whole, the first budget of the NDA Government has basically turned out to be grossly anti-people in character promoting more aggressive loot by the corporate and big-business houses on the mass of the people and working class.