CHANDIGARH: The central government must review its budget priorities , which should be pro-welfare commitment and not pro-corporate , and increase allocation for R&D in the public sector, writes EAS Sarma , former Secretary to Government of India to the Union, wrote to the finance minister on Saturday.
V K Gupta spokesperson All India Power Engineers Federation said that the Sarma's letter mentions that the Budget for 2024-25 should reflect respect for federalism and move away from a hitherto pro-corporate approach and raise additional fiscal resources, not by diverting tax-payer’s money to profiteering private companies, but by imposing additional taxes on them. It is ironic that big private businesses in India pay an abysmally low effectiveness .The Budget should move towards an inverted tax slab with higher taxes levied on high-income individuals and corporates.
It may be mentioned that open-ended PLI scheme , granting them Rs 2, 00, 000 crores of project cost subsidies over a 5-year time-frame. Those schemes neither guarantee employment, nor domestic value addition. Giving project cost subsidies are not a prudent way to attract socially beneficial investments. Good investments will come if the government shows investors that it will provide a corruption-free ecosystem, a rule-based stable policy and strict enforcement of environment norms that provide pollution-free land, water and air.
PM Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY), during the last 5 years, subsidised premium to a staggering extent of Rs 70, 13, 127 crores during khariff and Rs 43, 24, 333 crores during rabi, the subsidies going to a number of private insurers, apart from very few PSU insurers. The insurers profited from those subsidies, giving little to farmers by way of claim settlement.
Considering that agriculture continues to form the backbone of the Indian economy, the Centre has the obligation to announce 100% adoption of the Swaminathan-recommended MSP for foodgrains and provide adequate budgetary allocation to sustain it.
The allocation for food subsidy over the last 3 years has declined by 25%, forcing many states to take on the consequential financial burden from their meagre resources, to provide nutritious food to vulnerable households’
The Budget should bring a paradigm change in both education and healthcare, by increasing allocations for strengthening public sector facilities in the States.
The Budget should increase allocation for R&D in the public sector.