'Will Modi govt Budget fall prey to lobbies?'

Several within the Sangh Parivar, including ideologues and experts associated with its think tank on rural economy Deendayal Research Institute (DRI), await the first Budget of the Narendra Modi government to see whether it would succeed in pursuing its own agenda or fall prey to lobbies and interest groups.

On Tuesday, Sangh Parivar ideologue Mahesh Sharma told a study circle of the Institute that he hoped the expectations with which people have elected the new government would remain intact even after the Budget.

Sharma, a former chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), indicated the Modi government's Budget would be its first true test. "The manifesto and the Presidential address notwithstanding, it remains to be seen whether the Budget would reflect the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) manifesto and whether it (the government) would remain free of the play of lobbies," said Sharma, an expert of Sangh Parivar stalwart Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's philosophy of 'integral humanism'.

The monthly study circle meeting on Tuesday discussed what should be India's 'rural development model'. Sharma said study circles such as the one organised by the Institute had an "important role" in guiding the new government take correct policy decisions.

He said the debate on whether the Western development model was good for India began a century ago when Mahatma Gandhi in 1909 wrote 'Hind Swaraj', and that "hope had built among many" that this government would pursue policies that might help change the development course adopted by India.

Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak Abhay Mahajan heads the New Delhi-based Deendayal Research Institute. It is the Sangh Parivar's leading think tank on issues of agriculture, water management and rural economic development. Sangh Parivar stalwart Nanaji Deshmukh founded the Institute in 1972, and it runs projects in several parts of India, including Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Rangan Dutta, a former Secretary to the Government of India and a close associate of Deshmukh, spoke against urban-based economic model and said there was a need to create jobs in rural areas. He called for increased Budgetary allocation for agriculture, create agriculture-related infrastructure and give concessions to small and medium enterprises. Dutta said the kind of liberalisation India has adopted should be reviewed.

Dutta is a member of the Research Advisory Council of National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies. He said Genetically Modified seeds would destroy the genetic resources and diversity of India. "We need to be careful in adopting these seeds."

Dutta also disagreed there was any 'Gujarat model of development'. "I personally feel Indian planning is so highly centralised that there is little scope for a state specific model. Indian system of planning is based on finances provided by the Centre. So, if at all, the Gujarat model is about successful implementation, efficiency and performance."