Union Budget 2008-09 - An Editorial Analysis

--By Sagar Satapathy, Editor-in-Chief

The much-awaited Union Budget 2008-09 presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram turned out to be a "Election Budget" with all major announcements directly benefiting the farmers, women, minorities, SCs and STs. The government's intention became clear when senior Congress leader Rajeev Shukla, while talking to TIMES Now, gave the credit of this "populist budget" to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, PM Manmohan Singh and other cabinet members.

Read between the lines..... There was no mention of FM P Chidambaram. When asked, Mr. Shukla fumbled and said Chidambaram too was a part of cabinet. What does that mean Mr. Rajeev Shukla? Who prepared the budget? Sonia Gandhi or Chidambaram? A question that need to be answered by the Congress, which seems to be an election mood.

The first shock came in the form of a huge bonanza for the farmers. Never in budget history, farmers got such a huge waiver of loans. Rs. 60,000 crore waiver for the farms!!! At whose cost? Who will pay for that. In the initial budget speech, Chidambaram expressed concern over the slow growth rate. Despite this, he announced such over-ambitious packages for the farmers. Are we really prepared to take such burden. We, the people of India, have a doubt.

It's not the government, it will be the exchequers who will share the burden. Congress will get the votes of 4 crore farmers and their families across the country. But common people will suffer for this unwanted generosity shown by the government. Nobody if the farmers of India get their due. They definitely deserve this. But why no such moves were initiated in the previous budgets. It could have been implemented in phases. Where is the rationale behind announcing such a huge bonanza at once? While the government smile, people will pay for that.

The Congress-led UPA government was accused of minority appeasement. It did exactly the same by announcing a slew of measures for the minorities. Rather than encouraging the minority community to send their children to government or private schools, the government provided special grant to Madrassas, that were considered as hubs for hard-core religious activities. We must encourage liberal mindset, not fanaticism, which will prove detrimental to our society.

The middle class people received another jolt, when the Union Budget 2008-09, increased the price of Cement. That means, housing sector will see a sharp rise in terms of prices and it will badly affect the middle class families that have been dreaming to have their own house. With a rise in Cement prices, the cost to build a house, will significantly increase.

Although the government has increased the personal income tax exemption slab to Rs. 1.5 lakh per annum, it failed to reward the regular tax payers. While the tax exemptions for men have been increased to Rs. 1.5 lakh, those for women are not fixed at Rs. 1.8 lakh. Senior citizens will be most benefited, as they will tax exemption up to Rs. 2.5 lakh.

This is an welcome step that will benefit millions of tax payers in the country. However, the tax deduction limit under Section 80 CC and Section 80 D remain the same. The Finance Minister could have done better to encourage people to invest more, by increasing the limit from existing Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.25 lakh or Rs. 1.5 lakh.

It could be the last budget for Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, as the country will go to polls this year (possibly) or in April 2009. There will be no budget in Feb, 2009 unless a new government comes to power before the budget session. Although the FM tried to maintain a balance in his 'dream budget', he ended up giving maximum to some particular sections and less to others.

Since the budget was aimed at vote banks, more benefits were given to farmers, women, SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities. There were some consolations for the middle class people, but that was not enough. The extra burden government imposes (directly or indirectly) negated the good measures.

To conclude, it was indeed a populist budget, but makes only some sections of the society happy. If we rate the budget on a popular index, it will still get 6 out of 10. But, the generosity shown by the government to some sectors, may prove dearer for the common people. There is hardly anything to cheer about. Mr. Chidambaram came, Mr. Chidambaram saw and Mr. Chidambaram conquered. But.... he left a lot of questions unanswered.