Oppn accuses govt of slashing spending on social schemes

Opposition in Lok Sabha today accused the government of slashing expenditure on various social sector schemes, cutting food and fertiliser subsidies and burdening the common man through the latest budget by doing nothing to check rising prices.
They were also critical of the government on the black money issue saying the common man has got nothing despite the Prime Minister promising Rs 15 lakh in their accounts sooner than later by bringing back the black money stashed abroad.
Initiating the debate on general budget, Congress member Shashi Tharoor took a dig at the government for its failure to bring back black money stashed abroad, saying "only Rs 30 per person has been collected as against the promise of Rs 15 lakh for each bank account holders."

People are still waiting to get Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts but some senior BJP leader now say that was only a 'political jumla (phrase)', he said.
Terming the budget as "political budget which is not for common man", Tharoor cited examples to say that even Sub- Saharan Africa spent 7 per cent on health and education while India has allocated just 4 per cent for this. The allocation for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has also been cut, he said.
While the funds for Nirbhaya Fund has been slashed from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 500 crore, the government has cut food subsidy by Rs 5,000 crore, fertiliser subsidy by Rs 2,000 crore, besides the allocations to education and to the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

"Prime Minister said Budget is an exam. I would say he must try harder... PM Mann Ki Baat Karte hai, Finance Minister Dhan ki Baat Karte hai, Par Ye sarkar Jan ki baat kab karegi (when will government talk about common man when PM talks 'Mann ki Baat' and FM talks about finances)," he said.

He said the Budget has increased burden on the 'aam aadmi' by levying more cess in the form of Krishi Kalyan Cess. "In a bid to achieve ambitious growth (7 per cent) figure, the Finance Minister has burdened Aam Aadmi," he said.
"Government is talking about LPG gas connection...I hope the government leaves something in the hands of poor so that they can cook," he said.

Talking about inflation, he said, the government has failed to check spiralling prices of essential items. "Inflation has gone up so much for that pulses have become costlier than chicken," he said.
He also raised a question mark over the GDP target set by the government saying growth has slowed down in all the key sectors be it Index of Industrial Production or exports. Even corporate sector profitability has declined, he added.
Tharoor also said the government has missed disinvestment
target last year and the year before. Against the disinvestment target of Rs 69,500 crore, only Rs 25,312 crore has been realised and again an ambitious target of Rs 56,000 crore has been set for this year.

On the declining value of rupee, he said, it has "now crossed Prime Minister's age."
He pointed out that there has been cut in expenditure of various ministries. Citing an example, he said the government merged Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs with Ministry of External Affairs and reduced the expenditure by Rs 420 crore and quipped that "the biggest challenge for External Affairs is not Pakistan but Finance Ministry."
Attacking the Modi government for terming stressed asset as a legacy issue, he said, the issue has reached this stage because the government has failed to acknowledge the policy suggestion by RBI on non-performing assets (NPA).

Defending the Budget, BJP member Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said it was one of the best 'pro-poor' budget since Independence and added the government will leave no stone unturned to take country on the path of development.
The Budget has announced many schemes for farmers including crop insurance and irrigation scheme to double farmers income in 5 years, he said, adding "Yeh to trailer hai, film dekhna bakhi hai (This is just the trailer, the film is yet to come)".
Soon after Chauhan completed his speech, Union Minister Jayant Sinha and many other BJP members walked up to his seat and were seen appreciating him.

TMC member Sugata Bose said agrarian crisis and electoral setbacks has made the government come out with a Budget where it does not look like "suit boot ki sarkar".
With the Budget, the government seems to be wearing a simple farmer's dress "but does the change in attire change the attitude," he wondered, saying "the shift in rhetoric has run far ahead than the shift in economy."
Noting that the budget does attempt a course correction, he said the discourse is a "binary between pro-rich versus pro-poor", adding that expectations of big bang reforms have ended with a whimper.
Intervening in the discussion, Minister of State for

Finance Jayant Sinha said only jewellers with a turnover of over Rs 12 crore would be liable to pay 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery items.
"It would be good for rhetoric but wrong factually," Sinha said in response to Bose's remarks.
The TMC member took a dig at the government for presenting that allocation for agriculture has increased much but there has only been changes in terms of classification under different heads.
Cautioning that excessive tightening of the fiscal policy was not desireable, Bose welcomed the government's move to review the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.

He raised concerns about the cut in budgetary allocation for the External Affairs Ministry, saying that "Jaitleyji must be generous to Sushmaji".
Touching upon employment, Bose said that youth are alienated for many reasons but that should not be done on the job front.
About the government's earlier proposal to tax EPF, Bose said it was an ill-advised move. Referring to the practices followed in developed countries, he said people there have choices with respect to making investments in pension funds and social security plans. "India has neither the choice nor proper social security (system)," he noted.
S R Vijayakumar (AIADMK) said the Budget does not seem to have any specific plan, especially for states, and some tax proposals are regressive.

Noting that the Budget has not met the high expectations of Tamil Nadu, he said there were several cess and surcharges proposed but their revenue are not shared with states.
Regarding the decision to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment in marketing and processing of foods products, Vijayakumar said the move could result in backdoor entry for FDI in retail.
BJD leader B Mahtab said there is "much greater sense of purpose and direction" in the Budget even as he noted that allocation for states should have been much more. He also said through cess the Centre is collecting revenues but state governments are not getting it.

Referring to the issue of bad loans, he said RBI should not remain as a passive regulator and take steps to deal with big defaulters. "They are skillful defaulters, not wilful defaulters," he added.
(Reopens PAR35)
P Karunakaran (CPI-M) said the government's whole policy is based on FDI in public private partnerships. He also accused the government of meeting its fiscal deficit target at the cost of common man.
He said that although the prices of crude oil has come down from USD 110 to USD 30 per barrel, the government has not reduced petrol prices in the same proportion.

Karunakaran also asked the government to take steps to help the rubber farmers who are suffering from steep fall in prices.
S A Patil (Shiv Sena) asked the government to withdraw the proposed one per cent excise duty on jewellery.
He regretted that the BJP, which had earlier opposed imposition of the same levy, was now going ahead with the proposal to the detriment of lakhs of people associated with jewellery business.
The bullion traders are on strike for nine days protesting against the one per cent excise duty.
Jayadev Gala (TDP) demanded that the Centre should release the promised funds to Andhra Pradesh which is in financial stress following the bifurcation.

"Andhra Pradesh is a new state with an old name," he said, adding that the government must give it special grant over and above the normal grant to help it overcome financial stress and provide fund for the new capital at Amaravati.
Attacking the government, TRS MP K Kavitha said if the
UPA was suffering from policy paralysis, the NDA government was suffering from "policy psychosis".
She said there was a contrast in what the government said and what policy decisions it was taking, as he raised the issue of Vodafone tax.
She also raised the issue of Delhi not getting its dues in terms of revenue it gives and taxes the Centre collects from here.

Adhir Ranjan (Congress) said while Jayant Sinha is talking about a "superhit" budget, it had to roll back its decision on taxing EPF due to public pressure and the "stellar role" of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.
Lauding the budget, BJP MP Bhagat Koshiyari said it was "comprehensive" and "complete" in all ways.