Union Budget uninspiring, directionless: Former MP

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Union Budget uninspiring, directionless: Former MP

SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2012 23:04

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | BALANGIR

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The Union Budget 2012-13 is highly uninspiring and directionless as there is no concrete proposal to cater to the needs of about 70 per cent of the rural populace.

The middle class and particularly the lower middle class would be hit hard due to price rise as a consequence of raising both the excise duty by 2 per cent across the board and service tax by 2 per cent, said former Sambalpur MP Bhabani Shankar Hota reacting to the Union Budget presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The Finance Minister did not talk of augmenting irrigation potentialities even as half of India is drought-prone due to either less rainfall or erratic monsoon. The pre-budget decrease in the interest rate of EPF by 1.25 per cent would affect about four crore contributors, mostly from the working class, Hota pointed out.

Welcoming the allocation of Rs12,040 crore to the backward region under BRGF, Hota said “experience of working at KBK area leads us to believe that it would have at best marginal effect on the lives of the poor and the downtrodden.  There was instance of rampant corruption and leakages due to inefficient delivery system.

Further, a large part of a State like Odisha, apart from the KBK region, is backward even at times more than the KBK districts which would be deprived of the benefit, Hota maintained.

Allocation to universities as announced in the Budget is too meagre to have any impact on strengthening higher education system in the country. Most of the public-financed universities are languishing due to paucity of fund and there is no concrete proposal to augment resources, Hota said further.

Even as the Prime Minister announced to allocate 1.5 per cent of the GDP on science education while inaugurating the Indian National Science Congress at Bhubaneswar, unfortunately no commitment of the Prime Minister got reflected in the budget proposal, he rued.

Although the Finance Minister announced the publication of white paper on black money, he doubted the sincerity of the Government in view of past records in unearthing the black money stashed abroad, Hota observed.

“It is a lackluster and unimaginative budget, with neither directions at reforms nor real effort for inclusive growth,” opined Balangir MP Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo.