Populist steps won't serve purpose: Baijayant 'Jay' Panda

The Budget appears to be a case of too little, too late. Whether it is the reduction of excise duty on consumer durables or the ‘one rank, one pension’ policy, what stopped them from doing this two to three years ago? The record of this government has been quite inconsistent. The finance minister (FM) says the government is  committed to ‘Aadhaar’  but only recently the direct benefit transfer linked to Aadhaar was put on hold in the case of cooking gas subsidy. On the one hand, the FM has been cracking down on expenditure to bring fiscal deficit down to 4.8 per cent and on the other, Congress leaders have been announcing more sops. Whether it’s easing caps on LPG cylinders or ‘one rank, one pension’, the government has been indecisive on both counts. But within days of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi taking up these issues, the government makes a formal announcement. Yet, the United Progressive Alliance has been blaming coalition compulsions throughout its tenure. In fact, this government appears to be reconciled to the fact that the coming election is lost. So, whatever sops it has attempted to give in this Budget, will not serve any purpose.

This government blames other political parties for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Direct Taxes Code not being rolled out. However, 10 years ago, we saw how VAT was stalled and it took statesmanship from Delhi to allay the fears of state governments that they would not be affected. On GST, there has been no such statesmanship from Delhi and instead of promoting GST and negotiating with other political parties, they have left it to a committee.

Apart from policy issues which might require parliamentary approval, there are many executive decisions which send signals to the economy. But the signals this government has been sending are of inconsistency and hostility towards expediting investment. The FM is entitled to rate the performance of his government but in another two months, people will rate them in the polls. Whether it be markets, investors, middle class or any other, they have indicated in recent state elections and in opinion polls they disagree with the government rating.