New Delhi: The Union Budget has unfolded the contradiction between interests of the aam aadmi and the corporates and has failed to address challenges facing the country, Left parties said on Monday.
"Though a lot has been talked about the aam aadmi, the actual allocations do not match the intent (to help them). The contradictions are unfolding, with tangible benefits going to the 'shining India' and not to the 'suffering India'," CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters.
Observing that budget allocation for the rural employment guarantee scheme has been increased "only by Rs 3,000 crore", he said public investment in agriculture has also been neglected, whereas massive doses (of investment) were needed to boost the purchasing power of the rural poor.
Noting that the Antyodaya scheme provided for 35 kilos of food grains to the BPL category at Rs two per kg, Yechury said the proposed Food Security Act would provide 25 kgs at a price of Rs three per kg.
"So, the quantity of food grains will be reduced under this Act and the price increased. That reflects the intent of the Government and shows that it is actually Food Insecurity Act," the CPI(M) leader said.
Quoting from the budget papers, he said the revenue foregone or not collected by the Government last year stood at over Rs 4.18 lakh crore or "70 per cent of the Government's entire revenue collection. Government should tell us how it plans to recover this whopping amount."
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the allocations on various heads like infrastructure, agriculture and NREGA were "too less" and the budget was "inconsequential and insufficient as it fails to address the economic challenges."
While CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said the Government has been "very generous to the 'khas admi' (privileged people) and not 'aam admi'", CPI's D Raja termed the Budget as "neo-liberal economic agenda with few populist measures".
Maintaining that there was no roadmap or estimate of revenue generation from disinvestment, Yechury said, "We suspect disinvestment will be resorted in order to meet the fiscal deficit, which amounts to selling family silver. We have been opposing this throughout."
By saying that Government expected to raise Rs 35,000 crore worth of revenue through auction of 3G Spectrum, the Finance Minister has "willy-nilly confirmed there was a big scam in the sale of 2G," he added.
While raising of the minimum wage under NREGA to Rs 100 was welcome, he said a hike of merely Rs 3,000 crore would lead to reduction in the number programmes under it.
He said the private sector would be subsidised through the India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited which would disburse all loans on infrastructure development through the private-public partnership model.
Exempting New Pension Scheme Trust from all taxes on its earnings would pave the way for privatisation of pension funds of the common people, Yechury said.
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