The budget presented by the UPA is directionless as it has failed to provide any relief to the common man affected by severe inflation and sky-rocketing prices.
Devoid of any effective policy guidelines to generate employment, the finance minister has left it to the RBI to curb inflation and bail out the country. The personal income tax relief is cosmetic and has ignored the plight of working women.
On the back of a growth forecast of 8.75-9.25 per cent for 2011-12, the finance minister has assumed a growth in tax collection of over 24 per cent. This is projected despite his direct and indirect tax proposals together being tax neutral. Given increasing commodity prices and input costs for companies, this forecast for growth in tax collections is far too aggressive. Besides, it has no concrete suggestions on eradication of unemployment.
People were expecting the government to announce some remedial measures to check corruption and black money. Sadly, the budget is silent on these two important issues. While increased allocations to certain welfare schemes is welcome, one wonders whether this government has thought of any new, innovative and effective mechanisms to prevent pilferage of government funds.
The budget is also disappointing for farmers. Consistently low growth rate of agriculture warranted massive investment especially in irrigation, research in seeds and agricultural extension. Production of pulses was 32 per cent lower whereas in oil seeds it was 15 per cent lower last year as against targets. In the light of this, production of oil seeds and pulses required greater encouragement. Sadlly, nothing concrete has been done on this front. Weather and natural calamities this year have brought misery to lakhs of farmers. Sadly, this insensitive government seems to have neither a word of sympathy for them, nor any budgetary provision for their rehabilitation.
Nitin Gadkari, President, Bharatiya Janata Party
