In a quick reaction to the union budget 2020, Comrade Provash Ghosh, General secretary, SUCI(C), has issued the following statement today:–
The union finance minister (FM) in utter disregard to the immense sufferings of the common people has again chosen to parade in lengthy speech, gimmicks and ludicrous optimism shying away from addressing in right earnest even a single issue concerning interest of the common people. Instead, the FM has clearly indicated that her government has no answer to the pestering economic problems of harrowing price rise, relentless spurt in fuel prices, mounting unemployment, huge job loss, closure of one after another industry, plummeting income of common people, falling demand, dipping consumer expenditure, non-availability of remunerative prices to the peasants, growing recession coupled with spiraling inflation, rising shortfall in revenue earning due to extraordinary benevolence and kind-heartedness shown to the corporate barons as well as unbridled corruption in the tax colleting machinery, absence of productive investment in key sectors, no off take of loans from banks and financial institutions by industrial houses despite slashing the interest rate several times, inexplicable unwillingness on the part of the government to opt for effective increase in public spending and so forth. Nor she could explain how the much-touted theory of ‘inclusive growth’ is attested by the vulgar concentration of almost all of the country’s wealth in the hands of just 1% of super-rich while nearly 70% of the countrymen-the pauperizing workers-peasants-middle class—are languishing in abject poverty. The FM has lied to the countrymen by claiming macro-economic stability and poverty alleviation as well as presenting a host of questionable statistics and projecting an economic growth of 10% when all published data, symptoms and the perilous life condition of the countrymen point to the contrary. Agenda of wide-scale privatization is once again chosen through announcement of more and more disinvestment of PSUs including LIC and increased thrust on PPP route in the railways and other sectors. More significantly, education sector has been made open to FDI meaning more commercialization of this key public welfare area. While a slew of fresh tax-waiving measures for the corporate sector has been announced in the name of ensuring ‘ease of doing business’, the so called reduction of individual income tax rates has been made subject of forsaking hitherto available exemptions through investment in tax-saving instruments. Once again the cause of a flopping Indian economy is customarily attributed to weak global growth though the Indian ruling monopolists and the economists-columnists-commentators on their pay-roll had till the other day been boasting of a robust economic growth despite a worldwide slump.
In short, the BJP govt, being the political manager of the capitalist class has presented a budget which will surely serve the interest of its master but not the common people or the toiling millions of the country to whom the ruling party promised so many things before election. So the sufferings of the people will continue. It is time for the people to rise up in organised struggles against this treachery.
