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NEW DELHI: Following the presentation of the union budget on Saturday, the Left parties launched a scathing attack on the Centre for ‘neglecting the challenges faced by the Indian economy’.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) said that rising unemployment, inflation, increasing inequality and regional disparities are some of the major issues being faced by the people however the budget fails to address them.
The CPI-Marxist (CPM), however, stated that the budget reflects the bankruptcy of the Narendra Modi government. Through a statement, it alleged that the budget is committed to protecting the interests of the rich and corporate sector that it is not even able to formulate any real policy to address the slowdown in the economy.
It also said that the budget is a cruel betrayal of the requirements of the people of India.
The CPI also expressed concerns over the falling value of the rupee. “Already the economy is in a bad shape and the value of the Indian Rupee has fallen to an unprecedented low level. Foreign debt is increasing…Social sector and welfare of the marginalized people are neglected as schemes like MNREGA are not given importance and there is no adequate allocation on education, health and social sector,” read the CPI statement.
It further said the budget does not address the issues of pensions, social security and pressing issues like Minimum Support Price (MSP) demanded by farmers. “It fails to address gender equality and social justice issues. Budget talks of zero poverty but in reality the number of people below poverty line is on the increase,” the CPI said.
Both the parties sought a protest to expose the pro-corporate policies and failure to address the issues of livelihood of the people by the Government.
“Instead of mobilizing resources by taxing the rich and the big corporate houses and pushing up public investment that would help generate employment and ensure a minimum wage for our people, it has chosen to do the opposite. It also seeks to foster greater wealth accumulation by the rich by promoting private investment, even placing public assets and public expenditure at its service," the statement of the polit bureau said.
It said that the hypocrisy of the Government is symbolised by its measly allocations for a right which is a lifeline for the rural poor, the MNREGA. “The allocations have stagnated at Rs 86,000 crore even as the demand has grown. This is not only a cruel blow against the rural poor, it is an outright assault on the legal right for 100 days of work. Much is being made of the claim of “helping the middle classes” by raising the tax exemption limit to 12 lakh rupees. The quantum of benefit from these changes in personal income taxes accruing to the middle class actually will be small compared to the benefits accruing to the wealthy class of Indians – the less than one per cent of India’s population,” the party also claimed.