The Hindu : National : Budget ignored ryots, unemployed: Left

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Wednesday, Mar 01, 2006

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National

Budget ignored ryots, unemployed: Left

K.V.Prasad

Goals outlined in National Common Minimum Programme not met

NEW DELHI: The Left parties on Tuesday lambasted various aspects of the Union budget, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) saying that it failed to address many vital problems faced by the common man, particularly the peasantry and the unemployed.

"While the Finance Minister has increased outlays for the Plan by 20.4 per cent, the proposed outlay for agriculture, health, education and employment generation are inadequate to meet the goals outlined in the National Common Minimum Programme," a party statement said.

As the actual Central Plan outlay for all sectors, except rural development and communication, are short of the provisions in last year's budget, this year's "meagre" hike is a cause of concern, the release added. "In particular, the two central problems of the economy, agrarian crisis and unemployment, have been inadequately addressed. The reduction in the short-run interest rate for farmers and the proposed increase in farm credit are welcome measures, but these are limited in relation to the magnitude of the problem," the party Polit Bureau said.

No protection for cotton growers

Stating that most recommendations of the National Commission for Farmers have been ignored, it said no additional protection from imports had been provided to cultivators of raw cotton. It also noted that the Finance Minister had reduced allocation for food subsidy instead of extending coverage of the Public Distribution System in the context of the growing number of hunger deaths across the country. It termed the projected increase in health and education spending "disappointing."

On the fiscal front, the increase in tax revenue (through collection of arrears) was "satisfying." However, additional resource mobilisation through new fiscal initiatives is "meagre."

The increase in the securities transaction tax by 25 per cent was from a very small base of .02 per cent.

"The failure to impose a long-term Capital Gains Tax on share transactions in the equity market is glaring. The reduction in customs duties on a wide range of goods will hurt small producers and cause job losses," the release claimed.

The All-India Forward Bloc said it was a "lacklustre" budget; a more realistic approach could have been accepted. Party general secretary Debabrata Biswas said the proposals did not meet the commitments made in the CMP. The CPI (ML) said Mr. Chidambaram's budget was a "gift to U.S. President George Bush" and the proposals were meant to speed up neo-liberal policies.

In a statement, party secretary K.N. Ramachandran and Central Executive Member Subodh Mitra said the budget would lead to further withdrawal of States from socio-economic spheres and welfare policies.

CPI National Secretary D. Raja described the Union budget as "disappointing." Party Lok Sabha leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the budget was "distressing," made the tax system regressive, ignored Left parties' proposals on resource mobilisation and made no effort to recover tax arrears and non-performing assets in public sector banks.

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