Other than diehard supporters of the Congress party and its partners in the United Progressive Alliance coalition, just about everybody else has been rather disappointed by Monday’s interim general budget presented by acting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. The most charitable description of the budget by the latter section is that it is lacklustre. In fact, what was read out is not even an apology of a budget. Rather, it is a bland statement of the books of account of the country, a survey of the performance of the economy over the last year or so. In his speech, Mukherjee claimed that constitutional propriety demanded that no major taxation initiatives or policy pronouncements be made in what is essentially a vote-on-account to keep the wheels of government moving till the end of July, by which time a new elected government would be in place. But many have argued that the government missed out on a huge opportunity to revive the country’s economy that has slowed down considerably in the wake of a worldwide recession.
In recent years, the presentation of the Union budget is an occasion for the government of the day to showcase its economic programme and policies. Well, this may not have been possible this time round. But the Congress has not exactly been known for its track record in adhering to constitutional niceties.
There was really nothing preventing the UPA from announcing schemes for those rendered jobless for no fault of theirs, if not programmes to build low-cost houses, deliver insurance policies to unorganised workers or even build roads, schools or healthcare centres. Such initiatives would not only have been good for the economy, they would have also made good political sense as well. It is especially inexplicable why the government chose to present a drab balance-sheet of the economy when general elections are around the corner. The BJP and the Left have criticised the government for presenting an ‘election budget’. The fact is that this interim budget is an apology of an election budget. Mukherjee fooled no one when he claimed that the “hand” he talked about was just the friendly hand of the government. He is, perhaps, the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time. The bigticket populist policy announcements have to be made by someone else. No prizes for guessing who that person is. Wait for the Congress manifesto and third economic stimulus package.