Parliament proceedings | Budget for the rich, of the rich and by the rich: Chidambaram
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Outrightly rejecting the Budget for 2021-22, senior Congress chief Chidambaram additionally lashed out at the ruling dispensation, charging it with “incompetent economic management”
The Congress tore into the authorities in the Rajya Sabha on February 11 for presenting a “disappointing” Budget, with former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram describing it as a “budget for the rich, of the rich and by the rich” that’s meant for solely “1% of India’s population that controls 73% of the country’s wealth”.
Outrightly rejecting the Budget for 2021-22, the senior Congress chief additionally lashed out at the ruling dispensation, charging it with “incompetent economic management”.
Participating in a debate on the Union Budget, Mr. Chidambaram mentioned, “The sub-text is, this is a Budget for the rich, of the rich and by the rich…. There is nothing for the poor people of India, who continue to suffer…. This is a budget for those 1% who control 73% of India’s wealth.” He mentioned the authorities is in denial about the slowdown in the economic system and believed that the downside in the economic system is cyclical and not structural.
“Two years of slowdown before the coronavirus is a reality,” he mentioned.
Mr. Chidambaram alleged that the nation has witnessed three years of “incompetent economic mismanagement”.
“The honourable Finance Minister took exception to my using the word incompetent. I cannot use a harsher word in Parliament. I am using the mildest word available to me. Three years of incompetent economic mismanagement means that at the end of 2020-21, we will be exactly where we were in 2017-18,” he mentioned.
Mr. Chidambaram mentioned there is no such thing as a demand in most components of the nation, together with in developed States corresponding to Tamil Nadu, and added that it was left to at least one’s creativeness how backward States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha should be coping.
“You have ignored the bulk of India. Who is this budget for?” he requested, whereas saying that the incompetent administration will undo the progress achieved and the borrowings will solely be used to fill the big craters in the economic system.
“Mark my words, the growth projections will fall short by the end of 2021,” the former Finance Minister asserted.
He mentioned the authorities projected a 14.8% GDP progress charge and then mentioned it’ll develop by 11%.
“Inflation next year will be at least five or six%…. The arithmetic I have says your growth will only be 9.4 or 8.4…which is a natural and mechanical growth after the coronavirus-induced slowdown. Do not boast about the numbers. It will take you two-three years to get to a stable GDP. Take the advices of well-meaning critics, address the structural issue of the economy and support the poor. Do not go boasting about these numbers,” Mr. Chidambaram mentioned.
Asking the authorities to withdraw the Budget , he mentioned main numbers are suspect on this 12 months’s Budget.
The whole extra capital expenditure is ₹51,000 crore, he identified and requested, “Where did the rest of the money go?” “On the revenue side, your expenditure has increased by over ₹4 lakh crore and a revenue shortfall of over ₹3 lakh crore. Mark my words, the revenue projections for the next year are ambitious and there will be a shortfall,” the Congress chief mentioned.
Accusing the authorities of not spending sufficient on capital expenditure, he mentioned, “The numbers will unravel and there is no excuse this year.” Mr. Chidambaram mentioned for the first time, there was no point out of defence in the finances speech whereas the allocation for well being was decreased.
Terming the textual content and speech of the Budget as “prosaic and bureaucratic”, he demanded to know the pretext of the speech.
“We have a pandemic. Let me tell you that we do not hold you responsible for the coronavirus nor hold you responsible for it leaving,” he mentioned.
Mr. Chidrambaram mentioned the Congress rejects the finances and added, “We must, therefore, record our strongest protest and dissent. And because of this dissent, we will be called ‘andolanjeevi’ and ‘parjeevi’.” He urged the authorities to supply aid to folks and migrant labourers by offering money transfers and ration, else he warned that the poor will get up and in a non-violent, peaceable method, present what must be performed.
The Congress chief mentioned the authorities has didn’t stimulate demand for progress in the nation and the GDP will return to the figures of three years in the past as a result of of “incompetent economic mismanagement”.
“Every economist in the world has said we have to stimulate demand and the best way to stimulate demand is to put money in the hands of people. This government has failed on that account. I repeat the charge. You are still not learning the lessons of the last 36 months. I am afraid that as a result of your not learning the lessons, another 12 months will be lost and the poor will suffer and suffer greatly,” he mentioned.
The former Finance Minister mentioned the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2004-05, in fixed costs, was about ₹32.42 lakh crore and when the Congress-led UPA demitted workplace in 2013-14, it was a little bit greater than 3 times at ₹105 lakh crore.
“Since then what has happened? In 2017-18, it was ₹131 lakh crore. In 2018-19, it crept up to ₹139 lakh crore. In 2019-20, it was a slower crawl to ₹145 lakh crore and in 2020-21, the year that is about to end, the first half is about ₹60 lakh crore and the year may end at about ₹130 lakh crore, which means we are back to where we were in 2017-18,” he mentioned.
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