#AamAadmiParty reaction on #UnionBudget.
The Union Budget has proved to be yet another disappointment. “Farmers of the country were under distress and were expecting that the Modi Government would finally fulfill its promise of insuring 50 per cent profit over input cost of agriculturists, but the Finance Minister once again disappointed them. The measures announced in the budget will not be able to stop farmer suicides in the country”,”said Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Ashutosh.
Commenting on the budget, Ashutosh said that the Union Budget has been used as an opportunity by the Modi Government to exonerate unscrupulous businessmen, who have amassed black money in the country. “Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced a Voluntary Disclosure Scheme and has given amnesty to people running a parallel economy in the country. Now one can declare his/her ill-earned wealth, without giving out source of procuring that wealth by paying 45 per cent tax and penalties. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clearly said in his speech that no investigation or inquiry will follow such disclosures. It’s shocking that a government which came to power on the issue of digging out black money, finally gives in and announces amnesty for criminals running a parallel economy in the country.”
On allocation to agriculture sector and rural sector, Ashutosh said, the government has cleverly funded the allocation through levying cess. That means the very beneficiary, the farmer, will have to bear the cost. This will change nothing on ground. He also said that the performance of the government has been poor on the front of tax collection. It earned a whopping 54000 crore through excise collection, which was mostly due to excise levy on petro products. As the crude prices tumbled globally, the government minted money by not passing on the benefit to the common man, but on Income Tax collection or Corporate Tax collection, the government miserably failed to increase its collection.
Stock market also tumbled and indicated that the industry also rejected the budget. “The biggest disappointment was for the banking sectors. Finance Minister Jaitely has handed out a lollipop of 25000 crore rupees, at a time when the banks are burdened by NPAs and losses of over 5 lakh cores.
