The
Polit
Bureau
of
the
Communist
Party
of
India
(Marxist)
has
issued
the
following
statement:
This
Budget
carries
forward
the
pro-imperialist
agenda
of
the
Government.
Like
the
previous
Budgets,
it
is
explicitly
pro-rich
and
anti-poor,
providing
major
fiscal
concession
to
big
business
and
the
rich,
and
implying
further
increases
in
living
costs
of
workers
and
peasants.
It
does
nothing
to
address
the
two
most
crucial
problems
of
the
Indian
economy
today,
that
is
the
crisis
in
agriculture
(aggravated
by
severe
drought)
and
the
collapse
in
employment.
The
Budget
has
opened
the
way
for
the
de-Indianization
of
the
banking
sector
and
the
privatization
of
nationalized
banks:
henceforth,
not
only
are
foreigners
allowed
to
hold
upto
74
percent
of
equity
in
private
banks,
but
the
latter
in
turn
are
allowed
to
“merge”
with
nationalized
banks.
At
the
same
time
the
budget
is
remarkably
silent
on
the
problems
facing
the
people.
It
has
nothing
to
offer
to
the
peasantry
reeling
under
the
impact
of
price-crashes;
on
the
contrary
it
actually
raises
the
price
of
fertilizers
at
the
very
time
when
output
prices
have
crashed.
The
Budget
talks
of
making
agricultural
credit
available
at
2
percent
above
the
Prime
Lending
Rate,
but
since
the
amount
of
credit
for
agriculture
has
itself
declined
to
well
below
the
stipulated
“norm”,
with
private,
especially
foreign,
banks
being
the
worst
culprits,
the
rate
reduction
means
little.
Likewise
it
offers
nothing
to
the
agricultural
labourers
whose
employment
opportunities
and
livelihood
have
declined
drastically
according
to
the
Economic
Survey
itself.
No
Employment
Expansion
Schemes
for
putting
purchasing
power
in
the
hands
of
the
poor
figure
in
the
Budget.
The
claims
about
Poverty
Reduction
therefore
are
completely
untenable.
In
any
case
the
idea
that
spending
an
extra
Rs.507
crores
on
Antyodaya
would
make
a
dent
on
poverty
can
scarcely
stand
scrutiny.
The
Finance
Minister
has
trumpeted
the
new
Health
Insurance
Scheme,
which
he
claims
will
make
health
facilities
available
to
all.
But
this
is
far
from
the
truth.
Rather
than
building
up
an
efficient
network
of
public
health
services,
the
scheme
is
designed
to
make
even
the
poor
rely
on
private
health
services.
The
poor
will
have
to
pay
for
their
health
services,
and
some
part
of
the
hospitalization
charges
would
be
covered
only
on
regular
payment
of
the
insurance
premium.
Not
only
does
this
leave
untouched
the
bulk
of
the
actual
health
expenditure
of
the
poor
in
terms
of
medicines,
it
forces
them
to
rely
on
private
facilities,
even
in
rural
areas.
The
usual,
and
by
now
hackneyed,
claim
that
the
budget
is
“growth-oriented”
appears
particularly
hollow
this
year.
The
total
Budget
support
for
the
Plan
has
increased
by
a
mere
6.0
percent
in
nominal
terms;
given
the
implicit
inflation
rate
underlying
the
budget
this
means
an
absolute
stagnation
in
real
Budget
support!
The
much-hyped
Infrastructure
Development
programme
does
not
entail
much
actual
expenditure
by
the
government
itself.
The
Finance
Minister
has
declared
additional
spending
of
Rs.60,000
crores.
But
only
a
small
fraction
of
this
is
supposed
to
be
spent
by
the
Government,
and
that
too,
over
a
number
of
years.
The
actual
amount
budgeted
for
such
expenditure
this
year
is
only
Rs.
2,000
crore!
Total
capital
expenditure
by
the
Central
Government
is
only
5
per
cent
higher
than
what
was
budgeted
last
year.
Given
the
large
shortfalls
in
actual
expenditure
compared
to
budgeted
figures,
which
have
become
characteristic
of
this
government,
it
is
likely
that
there
would
be
hardly
any
real
increase
in
capital
expenditure.
Clearly,
this
Budget
does
not
actually
involve
any
growth
led
by
public
spending.
What
the
Budget
does
in
the
name
of
promoting
growth
is
to
hand
out
substantial
concessions,
e.g.
through
eliminating
long
term
capital
gains
taxes,
to
the
capitalists.
This,
in
the
midst
of
a
recession,
is
bizarre
logic.
The
employment
scenario
is
likely
to
get
even
worse
as
a
result
of
the
dereservation
of
SSI
items,
and
the
whole
array
of
cuts
in
Customs
Duties,
which
would
adversely
impact
on
domestic
production,
that
is
already
facing
the
problem
of
import
competition.
The
50
paise
cess
on
diesel
will
have
a
cascading
effect
on
all
costs
and
prices,
including
in
the
agricultural
sector.
In
the
name
of
controlling
adulteration,
an
additional
excise
duty
of
Rs.
1.50
per
litre
has
been
imposed
on
light
diesel
oil,
which
will
further
hit
the
production
conditions
of
cultivators,
and
the
living
standards
of
all
ordinary
people.
On
top
of
all
this,
a
duty
of
Rs.
50
per
metric
tonne
is
being
imposed
on
domestic
and
imported
crude
oil,
in
the
name
of
refurbishing
the
National
Calamity
Contingency
Fund.
These
amount
to
indirect
taxes
of
a
regressive
nature,
even
as
there
are
huge
concessions
on
many
direct
taxes.
The
support
to
the
State
governments
through
the
debt-swap
was
long
overdue;
indeed
the
delay
on
this
score
has
already
meant
huge
avoidable
expenditures
by
States
on
interest
payments.
Moreover
the
magnitude
of
gains
to
the
State
governments
is
exaggerated.
The
debt-rescheduling
is
not
a
debt
write-off
which
is
what
is
required
in
the
current
situation.
Moreover,
as
the
Finance
Minister
himself
has
now
conceded,
there
would
be
a
loss
to
State
governments
on
account
of
the
shift
to
VAT.
What
he
has
promised
to
the
States
is
100
percent
compensation
for
the
loss
only
for
the
first
year;
it
would
be
75
percent
in
the
second
year
and
50
percent
in
the
third
year.
He
is
silent
on
what
would
happen
beyond
three
years;
besides,
the
tapering
off
of
compensation
even
within
these
three
years
would
hit
the
States
hard.
In
sum,
this
budget
represents
yet
another
grievous
attack
on
the
livelihood
of
the
vast
majority
of
the
people.
The
Polit
Bureau
of
the
CPI(M)
expresses
its
strong
opposition
to
these
anti-people
and
pro-rich
provisions.