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Budget proposals disastrous: Opposition

BUDGET 2000

The Opposition on Tuesday said the 2000-2001 Budget proposals were disastrous and a sell-out of the country's interests. They asked, "What have the poor to do with cameras and cellphones."

Talking to journalists, senior Communist Party of India MP Gurudas Dasgupta said multinational companies had been allowed to come to India and this inflow of huge foreign funds from them would pose a danger to the country's economy.

He said this money would mostly be utilised in the take-over of Indian companies. The Confederation of Indian Industry and other chambers would have to repent for this, he said.

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Somnath Chatterjee said the Budget lacked direction and that it did not benefit the common man. He said there was also no direction for development.

He said the Budget started in one direction and "then it gets derailed". There was no incentive for the development of infrastructure nor of agriculture.

Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Madhavrao Scindia said it was a directionless and distressing budget. He said the government wasn't being downsized though the fiscal deficit was going out of control and divestment was not clear, he said.

The congress party who began the divestment policy had undertaken the exercise based on its market price while the government was going in for distress sales, he said, adding that the proceeds of the divestment should go into building infrastructure and not to finance revenue expenditure. The budget, he said, was anti-rural and anti-poor.

Congress leader Kamal Nath termed it as a "bad budget and a leaked budget". He said most of the provisions of the budget were already known.

All-India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Pandian said the budget did not reflect the poor man's aspirations. The reduction of customs duty on cellular phone will not improve the lot of the common people, he said, adding that the finance minister should have reduced the excise duty on fertilisers.

He said the agriculture sector had not gained anything in the budget and that the task force for women was an eyewash.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said the allocation for defence was not adequate. It should have been at least Rs 820 billion, he said.

He said there was no relief for the farmers in the Budget, which had raised the price of fertilisers. The agriculture sector will perish, he said.

"We have enough stocks of sugar and wheat but were still going in for imports." He said, terming it a sell-out for the country. He asked what poor people had to do with cameras and cellphones.

Samajwadi Party MP Phoolan Devi said the budget was bad for the common people and the farmers but it is very good for multinational companies. UNI

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