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| Edited By: |Source: PTI |Updated: Mar 17, 2018, 06:53 AM IST
The Left parties today accused the government of not taking steps to check high prices, poverty, unemployment or corruption, saying the budget was aimed at burdening the poor and subsidising the rich.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had promised to bring in or amend seven legislations to liberalise the financial sector and attract foreign direct investment which the UPA-I government had failed to do because of opposition from the left.
"These measures would provide greater access to foreign finance capital to domestic financial sector which will be disastrous," senior Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters here. "Removal of protection to the domestic sector will lead to its increased dependence on foreign markets and their volatility will impact us."
While direct tax concessions of Rs11,500 crore have been given to primarily benefit corporations, an increase of Rs11,300 crore through indirect taxes would affect the vast masses of people, he said.
Yechury said the government voluntarily did not collect taxes worth Rs1,38,921 crore from corporations in 2010-11. Similarly, the tax forgone in 2009-10 amounted to Rs1,18,930 crore.
"The government has thus given away about Rs4,00,000 crore in the last three years," Yechury said, adding that if this amount was collected and spent on building infrastructure, it would have generated employment and thereby domestic demand by increasing the purchasing power of the people.
On corruption, he said there was nothing concrete on the issue of black money barring "an intention of joining the global crusade" against it. "This falls short of even what has been promised in the President's address to Parliament," he said.
On the other hand, there was no mention in the budget on rolling back the increases in prices of petroleum products or on banning or even suspending forward trading in foodgrains.
Both these issues, he said, would have had a major impact on the prices of foodgrains and other essential commodities.
While the current food stock in government godowns was "double than the buffer norms, there is no mention of releasing this excess stock through PDS to the states".
CPI leader D Raja described the budget as the Congress-led government's commitment to strengthen crony capitalism and said it had failed to address concerns like inflation, growing
inequalities, poverty and unemployment.
The thrust of the budget was financial-sector liberalisation, inviting FDI in banking and insurance sectors, divesting PSUs, and giving all concessions to the private sector, he said.
