CPI Unhappy With Union Budget 2017

The Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI) claimed that the Union Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday reflected the casual approach the Narendra Modi government had been taking on the "crisis-ridden" economy of the country.

Addressing the media after the Budget presentation, CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy stated that the Union budget contained nothing concrete for the common people. While the lower income sections would be further burdened, its real patrons, big corporates, would be given all facilities and concessions, he alleged.

"The Finance Minister expressed concerns over the increasing Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) that pushed nationalized banks to file bankruptcy due to which the big notes were demonetized, but he failed to present any proposal to recover the NPAs. The tax concessions to rich that was brought down to 25% from 30% remained unchanged. The Budget proposal has the idea to widen the tax net by forcing the middle classes to be in it. Even if they earn only Rs. 5 lakhs annually, they have to pay 20% as Income Tax. People earning Rs. 2.5 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs annually will now pay 5% of their income as I/T," he pointed out.

The CPI leader said that the budget failed to give any concessions to the farmers, who were committing suicides in droves. The limits of bank loans has been increased, but there was no assurance to waive their loans - the main cause for suicides, he said. On Education and Health Care sectors, the government would go-ahead with its "madness" of further privatizing, making them out of the reach of the common people, he said.

"Though it does not come under the purview of the Union budget, Arun Jaitley has indicated further erosion of workers' fundamental rights. The Union budget also indicates further weakening of the public sector units. Disinvestment will be carried forward with much more vigour. The government is hell bent on dismantling the PSUs. Foreign investors will enter in all sectors of economy as FDI norms are going to be further liberalized," Sudhakar Reddy opined.