The budget is out. All hail the budget! Here’s how the budget presentation plays out in India. First, the finance minister makes a speech extolling the visionary leadership of the prime minister for India’s incredible economic recovery and world-beating growth. Second, captains of the industry line up to bow down to the great economic czar who has single-handedly led India to the top of the world. Third, the stock market touches dizzying heights. Fourth, television anchors, already so deeply in love, don’t know whom to hug. The ruling party completes the circle – the lord has a name. He lives in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, in the real world, some of us take a step back. Does this budget meet the moment? At a time when tens of millions of Indians have slipped into extreme poverty, what is the plan for pulling them back up? When millions of middle-class Indians joined the ranks of the poor, what sustains hope? When the poorest 20 per cent see their incomes decline by over 50 per cent in the last five years, who do they turn to? Will children be the focus since they are our future and have suffered a catastrophic increase in learning poverty due to school closures? Does the Budget prioritise health to make Indians more resilient? When will the 98 billionaires whose combined wealth is equal to that of 550 million poorest Indians be asked to pay their fair share in taxes? Not in this budget, is the answer.
It is not about these 98 billionaires or the wealthiest 20 per cent who have seen their share of national income soar. It is about everybody else. When the UP chief minister talks about an 80-20 election, he couldn’t care less about the 80 per cent of Indians suffering the ravages of a highly unequal economic system. With GST and union excise taxes bringing in more revenue than corporate and income taxes, the budget is anything but inclusive. This is a recipe for more, not less, inequality.
There is no plan whatsoever to address the searing jobs crisis that is hounding India’s young. With an employment rate close to 40 per cent, India is failing. In the middle of all this, the budget scales back social sector programmes, including MGNREGS. The budget has no credible answers to these or the other great challenge of our lifetime – climate change. There is no signal for a radical transformation of the economy. Instead, the government is cheering tax collections…during a once-in-a-lifetime economic crisis.
This budget does nothing to alleviate India’s terrible inequality. Its proposals skew towards big-budget hard infrastructure that will help line already deep pockets. It serves those who will pay for you to be convinced that this is a visionary budget whereas in reality, it is an ode to electoral bonds.
Salman Anees Soz
Deputy Chairman, All India Professionals’ Congress