Letter to BS: Where will the come money from to fund Congress' promises

This refers to “Where is the money?” (April 4). The Congress party is the oldest political party of India. Hence, every promise made in its manifesto assumes importance. One of the prominent promise made is the scheme of Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) that will cost Rs 3.6 lakh crore. It has been said that prominent economists of the world were consulted before framing this scheme. Some of the eminent economists have also suggested funding of the NYAY scheme by levying 2 per cent wealth tax on the rich who have wealth valued more than Rs 2.5 crore though the draft of the Act is not available. It has also been a suggestion to levy income tax @50 per cent on income of more than Rs 50 lakh. I doubt whether P Chidambaram,  who is an economist and tax expert and has been the finance minister of the country for a number of years, will accept these two proposals. I agree with the question "Where is the money coming from to fund manifesto promises?”.

SC Aggarwal  New Delhi

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