BUDGETS OF PRABHU AND JAITLEY

                                               

                                                                                      - Bageshwar  Jha

The usual annual fanfare of  budgeting exercise came and  passed off with foreknown bouquets from the ruling combine and brick-bats from the opposition.  While the NDA leaders showered praises on the FM for his balanced and futuristic budget, the opposition benches gave a blanket verdict of it being a ‘bakbas’. One ex-FM, Sh Dinesh Trivedi did not call it a budget  at all and rated it as an idea only. Did not he lose his ministry for flawed budgeting?  However, the impartial analysts found them aking a break from the populist measures of the regimes in the past.

When the Railway budget is due, the only inquisitiveness in the public is to know about the passenger fare. If it is down, which is the rarest of the rare, the budget is good. If it is otherway round, the Rail Minister is called worthless. In case the status quo has been maintained, the commuters take a sigh of relief. Similarly, with regard to the general budget, whether he is a salaried man or a businessman, the only enquiry is about the slab and rate of the Income Tax. If the tax-free slab has gone up, the FM is treated as a magician. The question arises, have these budgets only these angles? Who cares for the economy of the country, international pressures beyond our control, requirements of national security and economic developments?

The impartial financial analysts are of the opinion that both the ministers have, to a large scale avoided toearn cheap popularity and have taken into consideration a growth oriented  road-map of 7-10 years. Since some states are on the threshold of elections, both the ministers maintained  the existing passenger fares and IT slabs intact so that the people at large were not annoyed. Whereas Prabhu has concentrated on fulfilling the commitments of previous dispensation and modernizing the service with better facilities, Jaitley worked out to fetch 8% growth and lead it to double digit in near future. Without giving relaxation in IT, he has allowed the salaried class to invest more to minimize IT cut.

Both the budgets were followed by an upsurge in share markets which is a welcome trend. After all the share market players have their fingers on the nerves of the national economy. The Govt has emphatically committed to perform. They need a reasonable timeframe.