Saugata Roy speaks on the amendments to the Finance Bill as recommended by Rajya Sabha

Saugata Roy speaks on the amendments to the Finance Bill as recommended by Rajya Sabha

Posted on March 30, 2017 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, yesterday the Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on the Finance Bill, 2017 and they have sent back the Bill with five different amendments.

What is the procedure in the case of a Money Bill? Article 109 (4) says that “if the House of the People does not accept the recommendation of Council of States, the Money Bill shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses in the form in which it was passed by the House of the People without any of the amendments recommended by the Council of States.”

But there is also another provision in the rules to which I draw the attention of the Finance Minister. He can also accept some of the recommendation of the Council. In the Article 107 it says “if the House accepts any amendment or amendments as recommended by the Council the Bill shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses with the amendment or amendments as recommended by the Council.

This means, this House can also accept the amendments that has been placed by the Rajya Sabha. Now, the question is whether the government should respond to the call of the Council of States and accept some of the recommendations that have been made.

What are the recommendations that have been made? Before I speak on that, let me point out that at the time of discussion on the Finance Bill, we had mentioned that many Acts had been amended through the Finance Bill which should not have been done. Apart from ten Acts listed in the Bill, large number of changes in the matter of tribunals was made. We had said that this need not have been included in the Finance Bill, which is a Money Bill. The government stormed over all our Amendments and went ahead.

We also mentioned that one of the provisions in the Finance Bill is to link the Aadhaar number to the PAN Card; we had objected. But since then Supreme Court has given an observation, that for any public interest programme, like the mid-day meal scheme or for receiving subsidies, Aadhaar Card should not be made compulsory. We had raised this issue about the Aadhaar Card being made all powerful.

Another point has been made that whether overuse of Aadhaar Card is leading to leakage of data and breach of privacy of individuals. It will contain all my details and if everything is linked to the Aadhaar Card, government will have at its fingertips any facts about the private accounts of any individual. We object to this.

Another thing we had objected at the time of passing the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, was the matter of electoral bonds and electoral funding. It has been included in the Finance Bill. There should be a separate law for ensuring transparency in electoral funding. Instead, it has been included in this ‘omnibus’ Finance Bill.

Now, having made these points let me go to the actual amendments made by the Rajya Sabha. One is, Rajya Sabha has said that in Section 132 (A), the Amendment is to Clause 51. It is to be deleted according to Rajya Sabha. Clause 51 deals with, Section 132 (a) of the Income Tax Act – the power to requisition books of accounts etc. In the Finance Bill it was mentioned that for the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that the reason to believe as recorded by IT authorities under this section will/shall not be any person or any authority. So power to requisition books will be there and it will not be revealed to any individual. I think it is a direct assault on the right of the individual and the Rajya Sabha has recommended that this assault should not be there.

There are two more recommendations that the Rajya Sabha has made regarding Clause 52 and Clause 53 both of which deal with section 133 and 133 (a) of the Income Tax Act; they also should be removed . Section 133 of the Income Tax Act is the power to call for information and section 133A is power of survey. It is draconian that somebody will have the power to move anything without having to disclose the reason. This is draconian and goes against the rights of the individual. So, in that sense, I think the Finance Minister should accept the recommendation.

Sir, the main matter, main objection that we have is with regard to electoral funding as has been mentioned in Clause 154 of the Finance Bill as passed by Rajya Sabha. There the amendment has suggested that the word we shall not be above 7.5% of net profit of the last three financial years. The Finance Bill as placed by the Finance Minister says that not every company shall disclose in its ‘Profit and Loss’ account the total amount contributed by it under the Section during the financial year. In this case, if a company contributes whole of its profit to the ruling party then that would be legally sanctionable. The Rajya Sabha amendment calls upon a restriction of this contribution by political parties.

The other thing is regarding The Company’s Act, where the Rajya Sabha has suggested that provided further that there shall be a requirement to disclose the names of the political parties to which contributions have been made. There is no such restriction in the present law; it says, after line 40, that a company may make contribution through any instrument issued in pursuance to any scheme notified under any law for the time being in force for the contribution to the political party. The main demand of the Rajya Sabha is that the names of those who are contributing should be revealed. I think that this is a very reasonable amendment. The Finance Minister himself belongs to the Rajya Sabha; he may once go through the wishes of the Council of States and agree to at least one of the recommendations of the House to which he belongs. It would only be democratic.

Madam, our contention is that the bicameral system is there for checks and balances. Just because a party has the majority in the Lok Sabha, it should not ride roughshod over the opinions of the other House. That’s why it is my humble submission, Madam, that I mentioned these matters which have been done. I am again saying that the procedures of this House are being violated in the sense that we are making the Finance Bill a comprehensive compendium of different laws instead of a plain Bill to announce the tax proposals of the Government. In general, we have objected to it and again we support the amendments made in the Council of the States.

Saugata Roy speaks on the Indo-Bangla Teesta Water Treaty

Posted on March 27, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, I am raising a matter of urgent public importance.

There are different stands on water pacts with Pakistan and Bangladesh agreed into by the Centre. The Government is pushing for the Teesta pact. This week India demonstrated two very different approaches in sharing water resources with its neighbours. Pakistan will have to live with the fact that India plans to continue utilisation of its allocation under the Indus Water Treaty as it refused to countenance any change in the design of the Baglihar Dam in Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, on the Bangladesh front, the Modi Government is working hard to conclude the Teesta Water-sharing Agreement with Sheikh Hasina’s Government, unperturbed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s statement expressing deep concern for not having been consulted on the Teesta Water-sharing Agreement between India and Bangladesh. The Centre has said that stakeholders would be consulted at the right time in the spirit of cooperative federalism. A Government spokesman has said that just as the Centre and the State had collaborated in the Land Boundary Agreement, there would be consultations here too. Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister said, “We were told that the signing of the treaty would be on May 25 following the visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister from April 7 to 10”.

Other northeastern States’ CMs have been invited to the signing, she said, but not she. She also said. “I have very good relations with Sheikh Hasina. I took the initiative in initiative in resolving the chhit mahal problem, that is, the enclave problem – the land boundary and the exchange of enclaves issue with the Bangladesh Government”. But when it comes to protecting the interests of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee said, “I shall not put the seal of approval on any treaty without knowing what it is about”. She said. “The Centre is interacting directly with the District Magistrate through video conference. Why is the Centre bypassing the State Government?” “I strongly protest against this attitude of the Centre of going behind the back of the State Government for an international agreement”. We strongly protest any attempt to sign the Teesta Treaty without the consent of the West Bengal Government.

Thank you.

Saugata Roy makes a Point of Order on the GST Bill

Posted on March 27, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, I’m not speaking on the merits of the Bill. It has been passed in the Inter-State Council and the Cabinet has taken a decision. I am objecting to these midnight manoeuvres. The Minister on Friday passed the motion on Government business for the coming week. If it was uploaded on the midnight of Friday, then why did lit not come on the List of Business for today?

Why has it been introduced today? Because the Minister knows that there is a Business Advisory Committee meeting chaired by you, and called by you, which will take place at 1 o’clock today. Then we’ll come in a hurry. So we’ll have the Bill tomorrow and then we will discuss immediately.

Madam, there is a time for such an important business. Madam, please do not upset the balance in parliamentary procedure; members should be given sufficient time to deliberate, discuss, think, to put objections, whatever. Madam, you should give a ruling on this. The House should not be suddenly jolted into action by midnight manoeuvres.

Saugata Roy speaks on SC notice to Centre regarding allowances of MPs

Posted on March 24, 2017 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, I bring to your attention something which concerns the honour and prestige of the MPs of the Indian Parliament. The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Central Government and the Election Commission on a petition moved by an NGO, Lok Prahari, as to why the cost of MPs’ perks and pensions should be borne by the taxpayers.

As you know, Madam, the MPs’ allowances and pensions are covered by a 1954 Act which was amended in 2006. By issuing and accepting a notice on MPs’ perks and pensions, the Supreme Court is actually transgressing into the area of parliamentary privileges and the MPs’ rights. We are not asking why the Supreme Court judges are being paid pensions. Why should the Supreme Court ask that why MPs are being paid pensions? They are asking why ex-MPs are being paid pensions, when that is guaranteed by law.

This is not the first example, though, of the Supreme Court interfering in the affairs of Parliament. You are the custodian of our rights in Parliament. I bring to your notice and, through you, to that of the Government, that such transgressions by the Supreme Court into the exclusive area of MPs’ privileges, perks and pensions, which are part of the laws of the land, should not be allowed and as a House, as a whole, we should take a stand against this attitude of the Supreme Court.

Saugata Roy speaks on the Finance Bill

Posted on March 21, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, I rise to speak on the Finance Bill on behalf of my party, the All India Trinamool Congress. Sir, this Finance Bill when it was presented on February 1, 2017 had 150 clauses and 7 schedules. But strangely enough the Finance Minister in his series of amendments – which we received today – added 33 new clauses and 2 schedules. This is unprecedented and we have already protested.

The ruling party has done this after the UP victory. They think that they can write-off or overrule all rules, conventions and procedures. Otherwise I do not understand why in Finance Bill – which is supposed to detail the taxation proposals of the government – they have brought in the abolition or uniformisation of the tribunals, which have no relation to taxation proposals directly.

I may read names of some of the tribunals: Copyright Board, Railway Rates Tribunal, National Highways Tribunal, Cyber Appellate Tribunal, Competition Appellate Tribunal. These have no relation with taxation proposals but still the Finance Minister has forcibly overridden Article 110 of the Constitution and the traditions of the House.

Now as we know that the taxation proposals are mainly related to the different taxes that we have in this country like – Corporation Tax, Income Tax, Customs, Excise Duty and Service Tax. If we see the Budget of this year, 19% of the income of the government comes from Corporation Tax, 16% comes from Income Tax, 9% from Customs, 14% from Excise and 10% from Service Tax. So, the direct taxes are 35% and indirect taxes are 33%.

Now in a properly running economy, Direct Taxes should be much more than indirect taxes because indirect taxes are basically inflationary. We find that in this Budget both are roughly equal.

You also know Sir that there is the Laffer curves in Economics which says, the higher the taxation rate the lower the collection. There has been no significant effort to lower the taxation rate so that collections could be improved. The whole Budget has been formulated in the backdrop of two important steps: one is the reckless demonetisation ordered by the new government on November 8, 2016 and the other is the shadow of the GST.

The GST is coming into effect from July 1, 2017; both excise duty and service tax will be subsumed within the GST. The government has formed this budget with the expectation that GST would give rise to better collection. For the funding of such expenditure, government has increased money for infrastructure etc. Now where will the money come from?

The funding of such expenditure seems to be left to the mercy of implementation of GST which is likely to bring in more taxes to the Centre and States as also transfer of resources from the tax evaders to the Government through demonetisation. However evidence from cross country studies, Sir, this is important, has pointed to the contractionary effects of GST in the short term, particularly in the year of imposition. Thus tax revenue will be reduced. It is likely that tax revenue will fall this year.

That’s why Mr Jaitley, Sir, has not been revolutionary. Even with UP election he was very careful to give things to the common people. He just gave a mild compensation on Income Tax but people’s expectation was that the exemption limit would be raised to Rs 5 lakh. He did not give that. There was also a talk of farm loan waiver which the government has not given.

Demonetisation was Mr Modi and Arun Jaitley’s big gamble. They expected a bonanza due to demonetisation. People would deposit money and not withdraw and the money would remain with the bank, which they would distribute. However, roughly Rs 15 lakh crore was demonetised but almost Rs 15 lakh crore was deposited. Mr Jaitley or any other Minister will never reply if asked how much of money was deposited because they do not know.

The second question is how much money is required to remonetise i.e printing of new notes. I have not yet got an answer till date from the government. my estimate is that it will be Rs 20,000 crore. For one decision of Mr Modi Rs 20,000 crore will be spent now. How much extra tax did they get through demonetisation, after scrutinising all accounts? Only Rs 6,500 crore. So demonetisation has been a total loss.

The government gambled and it was a risky gamble which crushed the small farmers, the artisans, the daily labourers. One day the government will have to the pay the price, may be not in political terms.

Tax revenues may not perk up in 2017-18 when crude prices may be higher and corporate profits growth weak. The Centre has committed to reimburse State Governments for revenue losses post-GST. It has also guaranteed growth annually. If the initial year of GST is poor in revenue accruals, then where will it get the money? If the first year does not throw up enough money – the Rs 21 lakh crore Budget Mr Jaitley has proposed – where will this money come from? I do not know.

Earlier it was thought that compensation to States would amount to Rs 50,000 crore per year. but after demonetisation, most States have seen a drop in tax revenue and compensation figures may swell to Rs 90,000 crore. The Finance Minister’s pockets are empty. Where will you pay the compensation to the States from is not quite clear from the figures.

The Budget hence was little more than an exercise in damage control. It had a long list of giveaways and Government programmes in the context of demonetisation hurting the economy, but little in the way of job-creating reforms. One million people are joining the job market in India every year. In 2015, only 1.35 lakh new jobs were created in this country. Every year we are creating an army of unemployed.

You look at Mr Jaitley’s speech. Where is the promise for giving employment to the people? You tax, you demonetise, you introduce GST, you talk big, you say infrastructure, but where are the jobs? That is the question. The Budget encourages companies to remain small because they are giving concessions to smaller companies but not to bigger companies. So they are saying, remain small. You need not bother.

The Budget needed to do something to revise investment since private investment showed no signs of recovery. Madam, I’ll end by saying two points. The Government is going for privatisation. Today the Finance Minister announced he is going to disinvest Bridge and Roofs (Kolkata), Bharat Pumps, Scooters India, Hindustan News Mills and eight more companies. They are destroying the basis of the public sector in India. I totally oppose these disinvestment proposals of the government.

Lastly, the Budget does not tell us how much black money has been recovered so far. The Finance Minister in his Budget speech said that India is a tax non-complaint society. He has not shown a way by which he will be able to mop up more resources from the rich and give more relief to the poor so that the economy improves.

With these words, I end my speech. Thank you, Madam.

Saugata Roy speaks on Supplementary Demand for Grants (General Budget)

Posted on March 20, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Thank you Sir. This is the third batch of supplementary demands; there are altogether 75 demands and three grants in this. Total Supplementary Demand is roughly Rs 11.34 lakh crore. Out of this Rs 14,000 crore are the actual outgoes of the government. The rest is known as the Actual Supplementary Demands. There is also something known as Technical Supplementary Demands for Grants – that is Rs 11.20 lakh crore – where the change in allocations is made by savings or extra income in the department itself. And thirdly there is a token Supplementary Demands for Grants where Rs 1 lakh is allotted to every department. This year the total Budget is Rs 21 lakh crore. So if Rs 14,000 crore is extra outgo in the former Supplementary Demands, one cannot really quarrel with that. So, we do not oppose the Supplementary Demands for Grants.

Having said that let me make a few points about the economics. I do not think that the victory (of ruling party in recent polls) proves that demonetisation is a very good step. May be the PM is a good salesman; he has sold demonetisation as a thing between rich and the poor. But demonetisation has hobbled our economy permanently.

And if actual figures are placed then you will see that the rate of GDP growth has suffered. India has a peculiar matter in which statistics of GDP growth as given by the government does not seem to be genuine. Till today (of course March is not complete) we do not have the figures of GDP growth for the year 2016-17. Many economists are of the impression that growth rate of GDP should fall to at least 6.5% if not lower. So economy is not as hunky dory as it seems.

Small industries and units have been crushed and millions of artisans and workers have suffered. In Bengal, 81 lakh people have been hit by demonetisation. Who they vote for is not important but the fact is that the economy has suffered. After the Rabi crop comes out we shall know how much we have suffered due to demonetisation.

In Bengal Budget, our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has allocated special funds for people who are affected by demonetisation. She has also allocated Rs 100 crore for the farmers hit by demonetisation. Unfortunately, in the Supplementary Demands, there is no scope for compensating any of the people – farmers or, artisans – who have been affected by demonetisation.

Today that farmers’ suicide continues to be a big problem in the country and this number will be more in future. As you know Sir, several States are reeling under drought. Where has the Government granted any extra money for those who are hit by drought? The Government has said that they will double the income of farmers in five years. The rate at which the farmers are committing suicide, I do not think the situation will improve. If you notice, Sir, that in five years, agriculture’s contribution to GDP has fallen whereas a large number of people – almost 75% people – are dependent on agriculture. Agriculture’s contribution to GDP has fallen to 25%. It may fall even more. This agrarian distress has not been covered by the Government.

Sir, the Budget, on which I spoke earlier, has been a series of gimmicks and slogans. You moved the Budget date to February 1, you incorporated the Rail Budget into the General Budget. How does it help the Economy? These are all just technical showpieces. Where has the economy got the muscles? I want to cite some figures about the situation.

The rate of growth, if we say Gross Value Added, in manufacturing for 2015-16, was 9.3%. In 2016-17 it came down to 7.4%.

In construction it was 3.9% (2015-16) and it has fallen to 2.9% (2016-17) in trade, hotel, transport and construction.

Growth rate in service related to broadcasting was 9% (2015-16); it has fallen to 6% (2016-17).

In financial, insurance, real estate and professional services, it was 10.3% (2015-16); it has fallen to 9% (2016-17).

So, in Hamlet, as it was said, “All is not well in the State of Denmark”, I am saying something is rotten in the state of the economy. Not enough is being done to correct that. Throughout the world, when economists see statistics coming from China, they say it is not believable. The way this government is giving statistics, soon we will have a reputation like China – that our statistics are not reliable. This is a problem.

Sir, I understood that they could have taken as much money as they wanted if they only implemented Universal Basic Income, which was an idea proposed in the Economic Survey. They have not given Universal Basic Income. They have given a token increase to MGNREGA. But the condition of the rural masses in India still remain very bad.

I have already mentioned how the rate of growth has fallen. May I mention, where is the investment? They are giving slogans like ‘Make In India’, ‘Stand Up India, Startup India’, ‘Swachh Bharat’ etc. But where is the actual investment in the industry? I want the actual figures (that are never available from the government) of the actual investments in 2016-17. The fact is that industrial investment is not rising; we have only slogans.

Sir, I want to make a point on black money; it is not being recovered. Till today, we do not know how much black money was recovered post demonetisation. We do not even know how much money was deposited in the banks between November 8 and December 31, 2016. We are in the dark. Sir, we do not know how much black money has been recovered from abroad. We do not know if people will get Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts. This is a black spot in the Indian economy.

Since this is the Supplementary Demand for Grants, there is no mention about the banking sector. The banking sector in India is rotting. Rs 8 lakh crore worth of Non-Performing Assets is there. Was demonetisation done to fill up the coffers of the banks so that they have money to give to big industrialists?

Sir, as I said earlier, nobody opposes Supplementary Demand for Grants. These are money already already spent. So, I support the Supplementary Demand for Grants. But I once again sound a word of caution to the government that all in not well in the economy of India.

Thank you.

Saugata Roy asks a Supplementary Question on closed oil wells

Posted on March 20, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Mantri Ji ne jo aankrein diye hain us mein Assam or Gujarat mein sab se zyada wells sabhi non flowing hain. Dono rajyo mein hazar ke barabar wells nahin function kar raha hain. Assam ke wells bahut purana hain. Digboi mein British zamane mein well hua tha. Lekin Gujarat ka well utna purana nehi hain. Ankelshwar mein oil unko mila tha.

Mantri Ji ne bola hain ke kis kaaran ke liye yeh kam nahin kar raha hain lekin yeh toh ek natural resource ka wastage ho raha hain. Mantri Ji ne kya is per janch kiye hain ki kyun Assam aur Gujarat mein itne wells kaam nahin kar rahe hain? Koi geo-physical study hua hain? Aur yeh wells revive karne ke liye koi foreign tecnology ka istemal karenge kya Mantri Ji?

Saugata Roy asks a Supplementary Question on confiscation of assets of economic offenders

Posted on March 10, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, since it came to power, the NDA Government has been shouting from the rooftops that it would take all possible steps to curb the use of black money. Even before the elections they had promised that they would bring back the black money stashed abroad and deposit Rs 15 lakh in the account of every Indian. Now almost three years have passed, and the same has not happened.

In spite of the earlier existence of the FEMA Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and the enactment of Black Money (undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets and Imposition of Tax) Act, we have seen that high-profile economic offenders like “Kingfisher and IPL man” had escaped abroad and are living merrily there.

Hon’ble Minister, what steps have been taken to confiscate the assets of the IPL man and the Kingfisher man, and what steps are being taken to prevent the escape of similar offenders abroad by the Government, both administratively and legislatively?

Saugata Roy speaks in Lok Sabha on the issue of killing of Indians in USA

Posted on March 9, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, thank you very much for allowing me. I had given an Adjournment Motion on the killing of Indians in the United States by those indulging in hate crimes. Madam, the Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibotla was shot dead and his friend Alok Madasani seriously injured in Kansas on February 22 by an American shouting anti-immigrant slogans. Another Indian, Harnish Patel, a convenience store owner was killed in South Carolina. Again, on March 4, one Deep Rai was injured in Kent, Washington.

Madam, this is the result of a persistent hate campaign against Indians which is taking place in the United States, especially after the new Government came to power. As Mr Kharge has mentioned, Indian technical professionals there are giving a big service to the US economy, rather they are providing them brain power. But a hate campaign against Indians is being carried out.

Madam, we are very concerned. Our Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee in a Twitter message, has expressed concern and has asked the Government of India to take steps. She has also written to them a letter on this issue. But the Central Government, especially our very voluble, vocal and articulate Prime Minister is keeping a strange silence on the issue.

I can understand that External Affairs Minister is not well but the Prime Minister is his own foreign minister; he goes everywhere. The Foreign Secretary went to America and talked about H-1B visas and the restrictions on them. Immediately after he came back US imposed a fresh restrictions on H-1B visas in America for getting priority. Now what is happening? Aren’t the interests of the Indians working in the United States to be protected by the Government of India? Aren’t we going to take a proper step so that this hate campaign stops?

With all the vehemence, we condemn the hate campaign carried out by certain misguided sections of American society. We do hope that there will be protest in America as there are protests in India. We do hope our government will show the gumption and guts to stand up to the hate crimes in the US so that no more attacks take place on Indians and Indians working there on H1B visa are not deprived of their right of working in the United States.

Thank you, Madam.

Saugata Roy speaks during a discussion on Union Budget in Lok Sabha

Posted on February 8, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, I rise to speak on the Union Budget. Today is the three month completion of demonetisation. I take this opportunity to offer my condolences to the families of more than 150 people who died on the queues due to demonetisation. This House has not adopted a condolence resolution but I propose that a condolence should be made for them. In Bengal one man died in Kanchrapara on the line; he had heart attack while standing in the queue. Before anybody could take him to hospital he died.

Jaitley ji has presented a controversial budget. The Finance Minister has not rocked any boat. He has gone on a conservative path. And so there is no hype and hoopla over his budget. Now why the Budget is conservative? There is an opportunity for him to take new paths in reform. Why he did not take that?

Let me put it this way that the expectation or the speculation of the Government was that they will have a windfall of four to five lakh crores due to demonetisation. Fifteen and half lakhs were demonetised. They expected that only 10 lakh crores would be deposited. So 5 lakh crores will be with the reserve bank. They will pass it on to the Government and that’s why the Government floated this idea of universal basic income through the economic survey. The Government has not been able to do any such thing because there is no money in the kitty. Actually as much as 15 lakh crores must have been deposited in the banks, which is why the Government is not coming forward to speak on the Budget.

Now Madam speaking on the Budget the total expenditure is said to be Rs 21.6 lakh crores which has only increased by 6.6 percent. Normally it should increase by 10 percent.

Out of that, Rs 16 lakh crore is the government’s revenue income which leaves a gap of five and a half Lakh crore; this will be borrowings. So, the government will borrow this much amount to fund their projects. Tax revenue will be up but non-tax revenue – which rose last year due to sell of spectrum – will be down by as much as 13.7 percent. Capital receipt is expected on the ground of disinvestment. But, it is doubtful if the government’s target of disinvestment will be filled. Up to December, only Rs 23,000 crore have been found due to disinvestment. So, the government will not be able to meet its target of disinvestment.

Railways, which he took over forcibly, has a Budget of Rs 1.31 lakh crore, the Railway Minister could not even protest. But, after the Finance Minister took over the job of the Railway Minister, two major accidents have taken place – one in Kanpur Dehat, 146 people died; and another, Hirakhand Express where 36 people died. So, Railways safety- for which Rs 1 lakh crore is promised – is in very bad shape.

Madam, the Defense expenditure is set at Rs 2.75 lakh crore which is only 26 percent of China’s military budget. We want to become a big nation, strong nation. But, when spending is concerned, we are spending only 26 percent of China’s military budget. China has got the newest missile with multi-polar missile, together they will one warhead carry 10 missiles and we are far behind China.

Now Madam, the main problem in this Budget, why the government could not spend more money, is that there is no money in the kitty. I mentioned that due to failure of demonetisation, there will be no financial bonanza for the Govt.

Now what will this lead to Madam? This will lead to severe joblessness. I would like to share some figures with you. This was a Budget where government could have taken a big step towards jobs. A million people are entering the job market every month and in 2015, of which figures are available, only 1,35,000 jobs were created. So there is no investment by the private sector in the Indian economy. Where will the jobs come from, that is the big question.

They said that for job creation the youth needs to be skilled. They put a target of 400 million employable youths in seven years. Now of this, only 1.76 million has been skilled out of 400 million and only 5.8 lakh have completed the course. So there is a serious shortfall in skilled Indians. Unemployment will grow in the absence of private sector investment. This will be a major problem that government has not attended to.

Now let us see Madam how much the government is spending. The government has rejected the option to boost aggregate demand to cut indirect taxes specially excise duty and service tax which affects everybody. This would have given relief to crores of people; the government will pay a heavy price in terms of poor demands, lower price, and fewer jobs and closures of MSMEs. Also madam the Gross Fixed Capital Formation, meaning net investment has constantly shrunk and was negative 2% in 2016–17.

There is nothing new in the Budget regarding strategy to revive private and public investment. The other thing that to be noticed in this budget is the talk of real concern towards farmers.The budget does not even mention the word Minimum Support Price to farmers, which is absolutely essential. Minimum Support Price at the time of acute agrarian distress is not there, so the government is not able to provide relief to the farmers at this crucial time. Demonetisation has affected farmers, farm workers, manual labourers, self employed artisans, and micro small and medium business persons. They lost crores of rupees in terms of wages, incomes and capital. There is absolutely nothing for these sections. There is little.

Mr. Jaitley had the difficult task of damage control on behalf of his Prime Minster because many sections of people were affected by demonetisation. Many sections were angry, so he has given three sops to these sections.

One is towards the middle class. For income between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, income tax has been reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.

Two, the MSMEs, as I had mentioned earlier, have been affected badly. So, another sop: for turnover upto Rs 50 crore, the corporate tax has been reduced to 25 per cent – the corporate tax.

And three, they have kept allocation for MGNREGA at Rs 48,000 crore – though it is a very small increase, as last year it was Rs 47,499 crore, so it has been increased by only 1.1 per cent. The need was to increase NREGA by at least 10 to 15 per cent because many people who have lost their jobs are coming back to their villages.

Madam, in Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the last year’s revised estimate was Rs 19,000 crore, this year too it is Rs 19,000 crore, therefore zero per cent increase. Now, allocation for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was Rs 13,240 crore, this year it is Rs 9,000 crore – this means a reduction of 32 per cent. They are talking of the villages, and this is what is happening to the villages.

Again, as far as the cities are mentioned, they launched the ‘Smart City’ programme with much fanfare. Now, for the smart city mission, the estimate has been lowered from Rs 4,676 crore to Rs 4,000 crore. So where is the focus? Where is the thrust of development in urban and rural areas, I want to put to the Hon’ble Minister.

Now, as far as the direct taxes are concerned, I mentioned earlier that two sops have been given – one to the salaried class and another to the MSME. There have been no major cuts in excise. I have no objection to this because he wants to keep the tax net big; he has given a lot of logic that India is an under-taxed country, that the ratio of our gross tax income to GDP is low. Actually he was planning to increase the taxes, but faced with the anger of the middle classes, the Finance Minister has not increased the taxes.

Now, the Finance Minister has tried to be path-breaking. He is saying that he wants a new law on the funding of political parties. Instead of Rs 20,000 as individual donation, only Rs 2,000 can be donated. Now what is the problem in this – because instead of printing one receipt, you will print ten receipts. They are saying that you can buy election bonds. If you give your name to the bank you can buy election bonds. That’s why the RBI Act will be amended. Now who will want to go to a bank, write his name and buy an electoral bond? Because the Government can always access the bank to determine who have bought election bonds. This is not the way. Our party yesterday demanded that there should be State funding of elections. If you had a bonanza you should have State funding of elections. Let the Government finance the major expenditures of the successful candidates as it happens in Germany and in many other countries of the West. They have not talked about such election reforms.

Madam, I’ve already told you that this Budget is a conservative Budget. Just as there has been no new taxation, there has been no major rebate in taxes which will help to create employment. I’ve mentioned that demonetisation has failed to provide the financial bonanza to the Government. Demonetisation has harmed the economy. Now, even in the Economic Survey, produced by the Government of India, they have said three things. Demonetisation will have three problems. One is the shocks of demonetisation – aggregate demand shock (demand will fall), aggregate supply shock (production would fall) and aggregate uncertainty shock (people will be very wary of investing money).

This is not all. The country faces a grave crisis in the sense that oil prices may rise this year; this year subsidy has been lowered for petroleum – it may suddenly shoot up. Number two: trade tension because of the new protectionist policy of the United States may reduce global growth, and that will affect India too.

This Budget does not provide any vision. The Economic Survey of the Government of India says that we need a vision. Arvind Subramanian is a truthful man and he mentioned something with which I will end. He said, “A new economic vision is needed. If that vision is not found, India will waste the second half of this youth bulge the way it wasted the first. The demographic dividend with the youth bulge is already lost and it will have peaked by 2020”.

So this Budget does not give us a bright picture of the economy. It just stays a conservative Budget in which the Minister has tried to hold the baby for the Prime Minister and done damage control. He was not able to take any major decision. That’s why I cannot support the Budget.