July 17, 2014
Sugata Bose speaks in Lok Sabha on the Union Budget 2014
Trinamool MP from Jadavpur, and the DeputyLeader of the party in Lok Sabha, Sugata Bose spoke in the House earlier todayon the Union Budget. In his usual oratory style Sugata Bose argued in favour ofoperative federalism and requested the Centre to allocate for funds for Stateprojects. Citing the words of Madan Mohan Malviya, he urged the FinanceMinister to not overlook the demands of the States.
“Infrastructure, health and education mustbe the three pillars on which India should build its edifice of developmentover the next decade. I applaud the Government`s clear-eyed vision so far asinvestments in infrastructure is concerned” Dr Bose said. He was quick to add, “Iam dismayed however by the Government`s myopia in not seeing that a healthy andeducated populace is imperative for sustained economic growth and development.”
“The biggest disappointment of the Budgetlies in the miserliness shown towards education, especially primary andsecondary school education. The manifesto of the ruling party had proclaimedthat spending on education would be raised from 3% to 6% of GDP; that is thenorm in much of Asia and ought to be a matter of national consensus in India.Where is the Finance Minister`s roadmap towards achieving that objective ofraising it from 3% to 6% of GDP?” he asked the Finance Minister.
He also urged the Centre not to dilute thegravity of the term university by naming all and sundry institutes asuniversities. He invited the Finance Minister to visit his constituency andtaste the fruits and flowers of Baruipur, Sonarpur and Bhangar and rethink whythe region should not get a horticultural institute.
Dr Bose also said that the Centralallocation for Beti Bachao Beti Padao Yojana was far less than required. Hecited the example of Kanyashree scheme of West Bengal Government andhighlighted that Mamata Banerjee has allotted Rs 1000 crore for the scheme. Healso derided the Govt for miserly allocation for madrassah development. Hereminded the Finance Minister that Ganga does not stop flowing at Patna andghat development project should be extended to Bengal.
“To honour the Patel Brothers and othernoble figures of that generation including Swami Vivekananda, we need to followtheir ideals of honesty and integrity, service and sacrifice, not just worshipthem in iron and stone. We would of course love to have a beautiful statue ofSwami Vivekananda but we know that what is huge is not great and we wantreasonable expenses,” the Harvard professor turned MP said while cautioning theGovernment against wasteful expenditure.
While concluding, the Jadavpur MP highlightedthe plight of the hungry and poor in the country and urged the Finance Ministernot to cut down on food subsidies.
Read the full transcript of the speech here.
