Budget expectations: Looking for more pragmatism

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited ideas from the public for the Union Budget 2016-17. On February 5, we published a collection of comments received from our online readers. As we continue to receive more suggestions that indicate the desire to be part of the Budget exercise, we bring you some more suggestions that have come from our readers.

DIVEST STAKE IN LOSS MAKING PSUs; INVEST IN HEALTH, EDUCATION
Read our full coverage on Union Budget 2016


KAILASH GIRI

As the prime minister had promised in his election speeches and on other occasions too, the government should focus on governance, not on doing business. I humbly request him to fulfil his promise in the coming Budget and sell loss-making entities such as Air India, which is incurring huge losses every year and eating up taxpayers' money. The money can instead be used for the health and education sectors; this will help spur economic growth in the long run. It will also help restore the prime minister's credibility among the youth as well as investors.

 

PREVENT MISUSE OF FARM LOANS BY BANKS

PARAMESWARAN S

In Budget 2015-16, the NDA government stopped interest subvention, but reintroduced it later, following protests. The scheme is a good one if the farmer benefits from it. But it is misused by almost all the banks. Loans granted against gold for the purpose of consumption are classified as agricultural loans and interest subvention is claimed on them. This has to be stopped and the way to do it is by taking all gold loans out of the purview of interest subvention so that a heavy drain on the public exchequer can be avoided. Having worked with a bank for 34 years, I am aware of situations where the bank will issue circulars to scrupulously follow the norms of granting gold loans even as executives from the administrative office will anyway be inclined to grant the loans to achieve their agricultural loan targets. One way that banks circumvent the norms is by obtaining a declaration from the borrower to the effect that he/she has taken the land on lease for banana cultivation and is being granted a gold loan on the basis of this declaration.

EMPOWER TECHNOCRATS, DO NOT MICRO-MANAGE

JAI R

The prime minister had himself appealed to the people to keep India free of communal troubles for at least 10 years. He should withhold the demand for building Ram Mandir in Ayodhya for 10 years and focus on development. Development should be guided by integrated, specific, defined projects with clear goals and timelines. Execution should be left to the CEO of the projects. Empower technocrats and hold them accountable, do not micro-manage. If he believes that India is a great nation with brilliant people, why the need to micro-manage every development file in the Prime Minister's Office?

SIMPLIFY EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

MUKUNTHAN

My concern is regarding the ease of doing business. We had high hopes from this government. Service tax was earlier payable based on collections. This was changed much before the present government took over and we have been forced to pay it the moment we raise invoice (like sales tax), irrespective of whether we got the collection or not. This apart, service tax has gone up by almost 40 per cent in the last three to four years. In addition, TDS is being deducted on domestic revenue, irrespective of whether one is liable to pay tax or not. Though the Income Tax Act provides for waiver, this provision is subject to discretionary power. The compounding effect is that funds to the tune of 25 per cent had to be serviced from profits. TDS refunds take their own time due to a variety of factors. That means, unless one earns a profit of more than 25 per cent, he/she is not in a position to handle the business - this, even without considering working capital needs. The present situation is a nightmare for a person who genuinely wants to do business in the domestic market, especially in the services sector. I hope and trust this will be looked into in the Budget to encourage genuine players to do business.

PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

K HANUMATH SASTRI

There are many senior citizens who cannot subscribe to any medical insurance schemes because of the high premium rates. Please consider providing them health insurance with the insurer's participation as well as the government's contribution. This scheme may be implemented through national insurance companies or public sector banks.