Editorial 1st Quarter 2019

             FIRE MAGAZINE EDITORIAL FEBRUARY, 2019

THOTA HANUMAIAH                     02-02-2019                 CHIEF EDITOR

 UNION BUDGET 2019-20                 ALL ART

The union budget presented before parliament on 1^st Feb, 2019 for the financial year 2019-2020 cannot be the final budget for this year because the government presenting it, and the Lok Sabha considering it, will both cease to exist less than two months into the financial year to which the budget pertains. The fact remains that, the final picture of the measures for revenue mobilisation and of expenditure allocations for the financial year 2019-20 will take shape only after the people of the country have spoken their mind through the Ballot for elections to the 17th Lok Sabha. Apparently, it stands as a testimony to the ruling party’s fear and desperation about what that verdict of the people might be and therefore, it has sought to use what is an interim budget to make promises that are not for it to make.

The figures available for April-November show that gross revenues from central taxes in 2018-19 increased by barely 7.1 per cent over the same period in the previous year. However, the revised estimates for 2018-19 show an estimated 17 per cent growth in revenues over the actual for 2017-18.  Even after this, revenues are slotted to be Rs 23,067 crores less than the budget estimates announced a year ago. In a repeat of what it did last year, the government has put inflated revenue figures for both income tax as well as GST revenues. Income tax revenues are destined to be at least Rs 50,000 crores below the revised estimates. The revised estimates of central GST revenues is already below the budget estimates by a whopping one lakh crores – and the collection figures up to January 2019 indicate that even this is an unrealistic figure. Clearly, the government is manipulating the figures lest the lies it has peddled about the consequences of demonetisation and its tax reform measures are caught out. Despite this revenue shortfall, the government continues with the exemption of wealth tax introduced by the NDA government in 2016. The rich people owning the second house are also tax exempted. Clearly, the Modi government is cruelly following its logic of squeezing the poor and enriching the rich further.

 

 Despite the claim of making a new allocation of Rs 20,000 crores for the income support scheme for farmers to implement it from December 1, 2018, the revised estimates of total expenditures for 2018-19 do not exceed the budget estimates by even that much. A curtailment of expenditure on other heads, in particular the transfer to the GST compensation fund, is therefore where this allocation is coming from. Even this allocation and the scheme is a fraud that is being played out against the farmers, for votes. If not, what else can one call a scheme which promises a farmer household of four people an income ‘support’ of Rs 4 per person per day? Having been directly responsible for aggravating agrarian distress which has destroyed farmers’ incomes drastically, the government is covering up for the betrayal of its promise of a Minimum Support Price of one and a half times the production costs. 

Together with the income tax concession in the budget, which provides tax rebate to the persons with income up to Rs 5 lakh per annum, from paying any income tax, suggests that the BJP lead NDA Government is attempting to win over the support of the intermediate strata of the population while, totally ignoring the poor. This assertion may appear to be contradicted by the pension scheme for unorganised workers which the budget has introduced. But this scheme not only does not cover the existing old people; not only does not provide pension amounting to half of the minimum wage, which has been a long-standing demand; but also, it is actually contributory in nature. A person who just turns 29 will have to pay Rs 100 per month every month until the age of 60 in order to qualify for a pension of Rs 3000 per month thereafter. But a male worker paying this amount would have contributed Rs 1,50,000 at 8 per cent compound interest rate by the time he reaches the age of 60 years; and given the mean life expectancy of 65 years for males, the pension he would draw thereafter for the remainder of his expected 5 years life would effectively be getting financed from his own savings. The government’s role in this contributory scheme is therefore virtually negligible; the unorganised sector workers are being basically asked to save for their own old age, subjecting themselves to the exploitation of the Rich.

 The acting finance minister, in his budget presentation, while talking about the economic situation avoided any mention of the NSSO data that would have caught out the claim that the job seekers have become job creators leading to significant growth of employment. Of course the employment seekers have to become employment creators, not because of government policies have enabled them, but because these policies have, in fact, dried up the jobs, therefore, people have to find some way to ache out lively hood for their survival. This budget has put an official stamp on “pakoda selling logic” as a prescription of employment for unemployed youth.

The 2019-20 Budget shows little or no concern for the poor. The MGNREGA allocation is less than that for 2018-19 by Rs 1000 crores. Considering the fact that the 2018-19 allocation had already got exhausted by the end of the third quarter, and the government allocation in this budget being even less than that of 2018-19, it clearly shows Government’s utter disregard for this poor men’s scheme, and it’s consequential adverse  effects on its millions of beneficiaries of poor families. Likewise there are absolute cuts in allocations for schemes for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The Government though promised, has failed to address the issue of bringing back black money stashed in foreign banks and depositing the same in the individual accounts of citizens of India at the rate of Rs.15 lacks each. But, it has remained a broken promise, as it is not addressed yet.

All Trade Unions of India have been consistently waging struggles demanding scraping of National Pension Scheme (NPS) and restoration of Old Pension Scheme to all the employees and workers. This serious issue of national importance has not been addressed which is indicative of Government’s apathy towards employees & workers.

 After implementation of 7^th CPC recommendations in the year 2016, the trade unions, federations and associations  of central Government employees and workers under the aegis of NJCA decided to go on strike demanding an increase in the minimum basic pay of 7^th CPC from Rs.18000 to Rs.26000 with a fitment formula of 3.68. The central Government had deputed a group of ministers consisting of Home minister, Finance minister and Railway minister to negotiate with NJCA leaders on the issues for a settlement. As an outcome of negotiations the government has agreed to constitute a committee to decide this issue, within 3 months. The government is still sleeping over this issue without addressing it.

When all the central government employees are conferred the benefits of 7^th CPC recommendations with revised enhanced rates of allowances, the running staff of Indian railways are yet to get their running allowances rates enhanced, as per the RAC1980 Formula. This important issue is not addressed despite conducting several trade union programmes and repeated representations to the Railway Minister, Finance Minister and Prime Minister.

Similarly, the benefit of parity in pension is not implemented in the case of pre-01-01- 2016 running staff pensioners/ family pensioners, though the same has been implemented to all the pre- 01-01-2016 central government pensioners including the railway medical practitioners who are similarly situated as running staff pensioners. This important issue of senior citizens is also not addressed.  

The union budget for 2019-20 is, therefore, yet another reflection of the bankruptcy of the NDA government and no amount of spin can, however, remove the distress that farmers feel or the poverty, and joblessness the people actually experience and also the sufferings of the employees and pensioners.  This grim reality will assert itself in the 2019 electoral verdict.

THOTA HANUMAIAH.