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Thursday, Jan 13, 2005

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National

Trade unions seek widening of tax base

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 12 . Increased Government investment in the social sector, mobilisation of finances by widening the tax base and recovery from non-performing assets, and generating additional resources to create employment besides re-visiting the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004, were some of the suggestions made by the representatives of the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) to the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, here today during the customary pre-Budget meeting.

The union leaders, however, criticised the United Progressive Alliance's policy of disinvestment of public sector undertakings and reducing the interest rate on the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which they said, should be increased to 12 per cent or, at least, maintained at 9.5 per cent.

The outstanding dues on income tax, corporate tax, custom duty and excise duty continued to record unabated levels and the defaulters mainly comprised the corporates, industrialists and the super rich who have been taking recourse to raising of disputes on assessment as an easy route for deferment of dues for years together.

Quoting the Mid-Year Review figures, the CITU general secretary, Chittabrata Majumdar, said the tax arrears, which stood at Rs. 47,000 crores in 1997-98 and Rs. 87,000 crores in 2001-02, had gone up to Rs. 99,183 crores on September 1, 2004.

Sixth Pay Commission sought

Seeking a re-think on the policy of sell-off, the Sangh-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh demanded a consultative group for identifying jobs for the employment guarantee scheme while the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS)suggested the re-drafting of the proposed Bill to take on board the provisions recommended by the National Advisory Council in its draft scheme. To address the brewing discontent among the government employees, the HMS also called upon the Finance Minister to set up the Sixth Pay Commission.

Display of wealth

Recommending a tax on vulgar display of wealth at social functions, the All-India Trade Union Congress general secretary, Gurudas Dasgupta, said those who had the capacity must pay for more jobs, food and shelter for the poor. "Mr. Chidambaram must frame tax laws so that additional resources are mobilised to fund additional expenditure to generate employment, ameliorate poverty and improve the living conditions of the working class." He sought immediate Parliamentary approval for the Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The United Trade Union Centre wanted an end to further privatisation and sought re-nationalisation of the privatised units.

"The Budget should ensure a fair play for the working masses, particularly the unorganised, and enact social security legislation for them with adequate Central funding," Mr. Dasgupta said while threatening to "go to the streets" if the demands were not accepted. He said that there appeared to be no indication of a change of economic policy and the people were not in a mood to wait any further. "Eight months have passed since the UPA took over but there is no reflection in the policies of its commitments made in the national common minimum programme," he said.

According to Mr. Dasgupta, the people had voted not only against communalism but also for an alternative economic policy designed to tackle the basic human problems, mounting unemployment, lingering poverty and widening income disparity.

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