Sops were not needed in VoA, govt has done enough: Montek

Sops were not needed in the vote-on-account and the government has already taken enough steps to tackle the economic crisis right from October, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.

"Announcing sops in the interim Budget was not an established parliamentary practice ... The government has been reacting to that crisis through multiple channels, and since September up to the second stimulus, a lot of action has been taken and fed into the budget," Ahluwalia said in an interview on newschannel CNBC TV 18.

It was unavoidable that this would be a Vote-on-Account, he said when asked if he was constrained by constitutional propriety or wanted an opportunity to address those areas of the economy that are under distress.
     
The VoA gives the government all the flexibility it needs for the first four months of the new financial year since VoA is at a level which reflects much higher level of expenditure, he said, adding that the new government at the time of the regular Budget could put in any extra effort.
    
"... What we have done if properly implemented -- and that is there we should concentrate  -- will inject a huge amount of expenditure into the system," Ahluwalia said, adding that "it is a complete fallacy to think that when you have got a major global slowdown, you can solve the problem simply by announcing new expenditure."