December 15, 2015
Saugata Roy speaks on Supplementary Demands for Grants (General)
Sir, we have listened to another lengthy speech by Shri Nishikant ji which exhibits his command over different sectors of economy. I am no pandit in economic matters. So, I will speak about simpler matters.
Let me start by quoting the Reserve Bank Governor, Mr. Raghuram Rajan. Rajan, who is an internationally acclaimed economist, said some time ago that intolerance would disturb the climate for investment. He, of course, was referring to the religious intolerance as evidenced in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and in the killing of rationalists in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
It is not only religious intolerance but political intolerance is affecting this Government badly. This morning, you would be astonished to note that, at 10:30, the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi was raided by the CBI. They said that they were looking for the papers of Principal Secretary to the CM. But the CM himself has complained that his own files were riffled through.
If this is the sort of tolerance – there is a Government of one party in the Centre and another in the State where the Ruling Party was trounced in, if the CBI is used as a tool and as an instrument to raid the Chief Minister’s office – I think it is both a matter of shame and a matter of concern. It is a serious attack on the federal polity of the country.
Before I go into the Supplementary Demands for Grants, let me say one or two things about the economy over which Shri Jaitley is presiding. As was said by Shakespeare ‘All is not right in the State of Denmark’, all is not right in the economy of India. Today, I saw in The Economic Times this morning that the value of rupee has fallen to Rs. 67.10, which is the lowest in 20 years.
Now what does the fall in value of the rupee mean? It means that the rupee is not strong vis- à-vis the dollar. They say that it has to do with the US Federal rate cut. I am not going into the economic theories, but I say that this is a bad sign that our economy is not doing as well as it should. Sir, I want to repeat the other thing, which he was mentioning, that inflation has been in check. They say so, but what is the position with regard to retail inflation?
The inflationary trend in the wholesale price index has been negative, but pulses and onion among the food item category turned costlier with inflation at 52.98 per cent and 85.66 per cent during October. As you know, Sir, the price of arhar dal crossed Rs. 200 in some parts of the country. Though they may claim that inflation is in check, the price rise is not in check. We will have a discussion on price rise and I shall discuss those matters at that time. Lastly, I want to say that the Government has not been able to bring black money from abroad as was promised before the 2014 elections. It has not been able to bring in investment to the extent possible.
Shri Narendra Modi had raised hopes among the people of this country, especially the youth, that there will be investment and hence, employment. That has not seen the light of the day. The common man has also not got Rs. 15 lakh in their bank accounts which they thought would come when they opened accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. These are the points which I want to place on record. Now, let me come to the Supplementary Estimates.
Now, the Finance Minister has brought this Supplementary Budget under Article 115 of the Constitution with the recommendation of the President and under Article 113 read with clauses 1(a) and 2 of Article 115. What is the total amount? The total amount of Supplementary Budget is Rs. 56,256 crore. It is not a very big amount. If you take the total Budget, it was Rs. 17 lakh crore. So, this is only 3.2 per cent. It is not a big Supplementary Budget.
Mr Jaitley has further done some good ‘house-keeping’ by reducing the cost to the extent of Rs. 38,000 crore as a result of which the net outgo, extra income, extra expenditure is only to the tune of Rs. 18,000 crore. So, I would praise him for his good financial ‘house-keeping’ or book-keeping.
But let me, at this stage, point out that when we spoke on Mr Jaitley’s Budget, what were the things that we had raised here from the Opposition side. We had said that: “Yes, the Centre has devolved more money to the States as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission and from 32 per cent it has been raised to 42 per cent”. Now, the Treasury Benches were gloating over the matter. But, as we pointed out, this bigger transfer actually meant curtailing of the anti-poverty programmes meant for relieving the poor.
Which were the projects on which there was no increase? MGNREGA was not given any increase. There were drastic cuts in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), in ICDS, in the National Rural Health Mission – all meant for nutrition, education and health of the common people of the country. We had hope that whatever experience Mr Jaitley and the Ruling Party had of the Bihar elections, they will turn away from their political thinking and start doing things for the poor.
I was expecting a Supplementary Budget in which these shortfalls would be made up. But on the day the Government / Ruling Party — which had invested so much time and money into the Bihar elections — got one of the worst rubbings in recent times from the people of Bihar, what did Mr Jaitley do? Mr Jaitley, as Finance Minister, announced a series of areas in which FDI would be allowed. In short, he opened his arms wide to say: “Well, we are not being able to revive the economy. Come one – come all, invest in India”.
Now, we have been hearing these slogans for a long time like Make in India, Bake in India and Cake in India. So, this is a continuation of the same, and he opened the door to the FDI.
Having spoken in general, now I shall only deal with a few specific grants. As I said, out of the Rs 56,000 crore, not all are big allotments. Somewhere he has spent Rs 1 crore extra and somewhere Rs 2 crore extra. For the Cabinet, there is the Supplementary budget of Rs 196 crore.
And one of the important items of expenditure is for meeting the expenditure towards clearing pending claims for maintenance of PM’s aircraft of Rs 144 crore. In a poor country we are spending Rs 144 crore extra because the PM has to fly all over the world to bring in Make in India. So, Rs.144 crore extra is given in the Supplementary Demands. Good! Now, he will explain how this helped the poor people in the country.
Sir, he has given extra money for reviving the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited and for relieving the Indian Telephone Industries Limited. I support these Demands. He has got the One Rank One Pension (OROP) on his head. The immediate outgo for pensions to the military personnel will go up and he has given an extra Rs 5,700 crore for the military though they are not very happy.
Already the Chiefs of Staff are complaining about unfair treatment in the Seventh Pay Commission and veterans are again demanding that they will start an agitation. It is a problem which I thought would be solved. So, even with Rs 5,700 crore I am not sure if the problem will be solved. One thing the Finance Minister has been faithful to is his commitment to his Prime Minister, naturally. He has given extra Rs 2,155 crore for transfer of Swachh Bharat Cess to RSK for implementing scheme on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. They are giving so much money for their pet scheme. I want to see the results on the ground.
You have given National Rural Drinking Water Project Rs.500 crore. That is appreciable. Again, I may menion, which Nishikantji correctly mentioned, that he has given additional Rs 2,700 crore for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. It is one of the very good schemes that is running in the country, it has improved connectivity in the rural areas, and it should be strengthened. So, I support this demand.
He has also given Rs 2,500 crore towards Accelerated Irrigation Benefit programme, flood management programme, etc. That is Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchaai Yojana. I must point out to Mr Jaitley that this House had a debate for four days on the drought situation in the country. I myself had the opportunity to go to Maharashtra, Marathwada region, to see the condition. And I shall say that yes you have given some money for improving irrigation.
But the condition of drought-hit people in Marathwada, Vidarbha, northern Karnataka, Bundelkhand and even some parts of very fertile West Bengal is really bad. In those areas of Maharashtra, farmers are committing suicide. The Government has not yet come out with comprehensive package. Sir, you would be surprised to know that in a town of Latur city in Marathwada region, people are getting drinking water once in 20 days. This is what people have to bear.
Where is the grand plan? You are talking of going to the world, bringing Mr Abe and starting Rs one lakh crore bullet train project. Please ask our friend Dr Pritam Munde. They are the most affected people. Farmers are committing suicide there. There is no water. Cattle are dying. Where is the Government’s grand vision for relieving these flood-affected people?
The other day, Shri Arun Jaitley was not here. He has given Rs 10,000 crore more under the Food Security Act. We had supported it. Now, the next point is very important and that is, providing additional funds of Rs 2989 crore as assistance to States affected by natural calamities like hailstorm, unseasonal rains etc. from National Disaster Respond Fund.
In this House, we all know when Chennai flood took place, everybody stood together and said that a maximum amount should be given to Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh affected by the rains. The Prime Minister announced Rs 900 crore and everybody appreciated that. But in West Bengal, there were floods only a few months ago and only Rs 300 crore were given. Our Chief Minister left no stone unturned. She met the Prime Minister several times and our Ministers have come. But all they have received in exchange are sweet smiles of Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Arun Jaitley.
When would the just demands of West Bengal for reconstruction after the floods be met? He has given Rs 1,000 crore to new and renewable energy which is a good thing in the wake of the Paris climate change conference. He has given Rs 5,528 crore more to Central Road Fund. It is welcome because the Minister of Road Transport and Highways is one of the effective Ministers in the Government and he is doing good work both in roads and in ports. So, he should be given the money he needs. Even Central Road Fund should be encouraged.
Lastly, I would say that Shri Arun Jaitley, our Finance Minister has made correction only with regard to one issue. That is, he has increased the allotment for Integrated Child Development Scheme where because of lack of money children were not being given nutritious food. I thank him for giving Rs 3,193 crore as grant-in-aid to Integrated Child Development Scheme.
I want to just mention one more small point. He has given Rs 1,800 crore for aid to Nepal, aid to Myanmar and aid to African countries. It is all right. India is a big country and you may lend money. But there is a special diplomatic expenditure of Rs 1,014 crore. What is this for? Is it for diplomats so that they can prepare for the Prime Minister’s visit? What are you doing? Are you turning this country into a travelling country and making the Prime Minister an NRI Prime Minister? Is this what budgets are for? Of course, I have all respect for him.
Lastly, I must end saying that he has given more money for universities and higher education. That is a serious matter. We have IITs and IISc but we know that out of the first 200 institutions in the world not one Indian institute is there whereas when it comes to the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, some of our institutions are there like the IISC, Bengaluru, some IITs and the Jadavpur University. I request him to give more money to higher education.
The Supplementary Demands are meant to be passed. We are not giving any Cut Motion notices because we know the money has to be spent and the Government has to run. With that, I end my speech and I am extremely grateful that you gave all the time at your disposal.
Thank you.
