Jai ho Pranab da jai ho

Government khud tho aam khaa gayee, bas gutli reh gayee hai aam aadi ke liye

The budget was being tabled as one for the “aam aadmi”. As it is, the expectation had deteriorated after the hike in petrol and diesel prices. The markets shedding a whopping 870 points is enough indication of how the budget has been accepted (or rejected)

There is a lot of investment being made into housing for urban poor and troubled farmers. Huge allocations have been made for National Rural Unemployment (NREGA). Rural health mission has received a fair bit of funding too. This is only an overview of what has been promised for the rural sector. There is a lot more. But there is no mention about the roadmap for fiscal reforms and consolidation, nothing on increasing FDI levels in selected sectors and no mention on reviving industries hit by recession. May be the finance minister thought that disinvestment was too trivial an issue to be included in the budget.

India has not been affected by the recession as severely as the west. The fiscal stimulus is indeed important, but all the jazz about stimulus packages are on paper and mere book transfers. Mr. Mukherjee, if you really want to drive India out of the mess, through consumer spending, use the budget to give money in the hands of the salaried class. Make banks pass on all rate cuts to all customers. Cut the tax rates, increase the investment limits from 1L, which was set by our great grandfathers, give more tax breaks on home loans. Quicken disinvestment and use that money to fund the expenditure. In fact, the salaried class has not got anything worthwhile, whereas the budget for rashtrapati bhavan is up 21%.

The budget clearly shows the motive of this government, which is to save their vote bank. It is no secret that the UPA came back to power on the back of majority of the rural votes. So what they have done is to ensure the focus is on rural areas in the budget, as elections are still fresh in the minds of the voters. Whether they will do what is being promised is a different discussion altogether.

It is no rocket science that during the recessionary times, the HNI and ultra HNI’s hardly get affected. They make their money anyways. The Mittals and Ambanis of the world are still making money. The ultra poor do not bother, as they anyway have no money to loose. It is the chunk in-between, the salaried class like you and me, who get affected the most. It is we who fuel the property business. It is we fuel banks, in the form of home loans, vehicle loans and credit cards. It is we who spend on cigarette, alcohol and petrol and pay taxes through our nose. It is we who pay sky high prices for daily food articles, prices of which keep increasing irrespective of the level inflation.

What does the budget have to offer the salaried class? 10000 increase in the tax slab, women get 10000 as tax exemption and senior citizens 15000. Net effect to the salaried class is an additional income of a mere Rs. 166 per month. Is the government trying to make a statement to the salaried class? Rs. 166 - That’s all your vote is worth. Thank you for voting us back to power.

In a democracy, to make your voice audible, either you need money or you should be the majority. We, the salaried class haven’t got both. Ab pachthaaye kya hoth, jab chidiya chug gayee kheth.