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 Inspite 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.
