March 18, 2020
Saugata Roy speaks on The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill, 2020
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sir, now that I have heard the Honourable Minister’s long speech, give me a little extra time. What he spoke about I did not understand.
Today we have decided to combine many agenda items into one. Sixteen to 30 agenda items have been debated together. Combining the Bills on Supplementary Grants for Jammu and Kashmir was not a wise decision. I had protested earlier and I am protesting again.
First, I will take about five minutes to speak about the Supplementary Grants. The Government is seeking a nod for Rs 54,000 crore of additional spending mainly to meet its obligation towards GST compensation to States and for some defence-related expenditure. The gross additional expenditure is Rs 4.8 lakh crore, which is matched by the savings on ministries and enhanced receipt, aggregating Rs 4.26 lakh crore. So Rs 20,000 is for payment towards GST compensation and Rs 2,908 crore is for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladhak, as their share of net proceeds on taxes.
The compensation has to be paid because in 2017 it was envisioned that if the States’ revenue did not grow by 14 per cent, they, having lost the power to levy taxes such as VAT, would be compensated for that loss of revenue for the first five years of GST implementation. This should come out of a pool that is to be created by the levying of cess on certain sin goods and luxury goods, over and above the GST rate. The shortfall is calculated using a 14 per cent annual growth in GST by the States with respect to the base year of 2015-16. So one cannot really complain if the State is being compensated for GST.
But having said that, since the Honourable Finance Minister is here, I would like to point out to her the condition of the economy. The economy is going through the worst crises in many years. The GDP growth has fallen to 4.7 per cent and it is anticipated that with the coronavirus affecting business, travel and tourism, it will fall by a further 0.5 per cent, or even by 1 per cent. As you know, exports are shrinking, inflation has made a comeback and unemployment is at a forty-five-year high. The Honourable Finance Minister does not seem to have a clue as to what she should do.
Normally one would say that the route to recovery should be through a fiscal stimulus because people since the days of demonetisation, many people have lost their purchasing power. But all that the Minister did was to give tax concessions to corporates of 8 per cent to 10 per cent. This is not going to revive the economy. She has no clue as to what is to be done; I do not know where this country is going under her ministership.
As you know, the auto sector is in a crisis, the real estate sector is in a crisis, the fast moving consumer goods industry is in a crisis, and there are no green shoots coming up to revive the economy.
Having said all this, I will now go on to Jammu and Kashmir. May be the Honourable Finance Minister, if she pleases, can give us some indication of hur economic thinking. We are not getting any indication of it over the many speeches she has been making strongly for the country. I just heard the Honourable Member of Parliament from the Jammu area refer to big land-owners; I suspect he has never heard the lame reasons for the abrogation of Article 370, The Child Marriage Act or The Pradhan Mantri Yojana, which is yet to be implemented. Art 370 ensures incorporation of the concepts of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Honourable Prime Minister is so wise as to think that only the revoking of Article 370 will make the regions prosper.
Sir, if I may say so, the division of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is akin to an internal emergency. There are 400 people who have been arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and a few thousand people, under Section 107. The NIA is being used against the people. There is a calm but the calm is deceptive. People are angry though silent. One does not know what shape this anger will take and when it takes that shape, not the Honourable Member from Jammu but eight million people in the Kashmir Valley will have to bear the burden.
There is no political activity in the State. The ministers are very happy because they have imposed their will in Jammu and Kashmir. The people there have been humiliated, terrorist incidents are still happening in the urban areas every week.
I demand the immediate relief for Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and all the political leaders arrested under the PSA in Jammu and Kashmir. I demand that the cases of the people arrested under Section 107 should be taken up in court. I demand that a deadline should be fixed for holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Having said that, it is very easy to have peace with 45,000 Central Armed Forces stationed. You can do it in any part of the country. But that does indicate a democratic process is in place. England maintained its full democratic process when the Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army were on rampage, once almost killing Margaret Thatcher. It is as if neither Jawaharlal Nehru nor Vallabhbhai Patel nor Lal Bahadur Shastri nor Indira Gandhi nor Atal Bihari Bajpayee know anything, only Modiji knows, and with this view in his mind, he has abrogated Article 370.
Yeh Bill budget ka baat karte hain. Mein bolta hun ki a grant be made of Rs 30,757 crore for Jammu and Kashmir and of Rs 5,900 crore for Ladakh. Though the Prime Minister announced a Rs 80,000 crore package for Jammu and Kashmir in 2015, nothing has come of it. Nothing is moving the ground as such. As you say in this Budget, the biggest allocation is for Jammu and Kashmir but the Ministry of Home Affairs allocation is also up by 40 per cent, which implies that you are putting more policemen on the ground.
I also want to point out that the long-term economic cost of abrogating Article 370. The Jammu and Kashmir Chamber of Commerce made an assessment in January 2020, as per which Kashmir’s economy has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 18,000 crore. In the first 80 days after August 5, around 4.96 lakhs were lost. Just in the case of general trade, 1.2 lakh people lost their jobs. In the tourism sector, 5,000 people lost their jobs. In the services sector, 66,000 people lost their jobs. These are the result of the abrogation of Article 370. Today the Honourable External Affairs Minister was sitting here and laughing but he must understand India no longer occupies the high table in the international community. India is now seen as a country that has clamped down on eight million people in the Kashmir valley. <intervention from chair>
Abhi internet chalu ho giya wahan lekin sirf 2G, but this too only after the Supreme Court’s direction. Is Jammu and Kashmir an open jail? Jammu and Kashmir must be integrated into the democratic process that is one of the hallmarks of India. The draconian steps taken by the Honourable Prime Minister and the Honourable Home Minister must be withdrawn, democracy must be restored. Elections to the Assembly must be held and the Budget should be passed, though not here but in the actual place where it should be, that is, there.
