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Budget Session from Feb. 23 : Tax corporates, says the Left

	February 05, 2007

With the Budget session of Parliament due to start on Feb. 23, different parties are pushing their agenda so that the Government takes it into account while framing the budget proposals.



The Government announced on Feb. 3 that the crucial three-month long Budget session will have a recess between March 22 and April 17. The general budget will be presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Feb. 28. Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav will present his Ministry’s budget on Feb. 26 while the Economic survey, which brings out how the economy has performed, will be presented on Feb. 27.



The results of the Assembly elections in Punjab, Uttrakhand and Manipur would be available on Feb. 27.



With the Congress-led government well into its third year in power and a clutch of important Assembly polls scheduled through 2007 - including UP and Gujarat - the budget is slated to reflect the ruling establishment’s political concerns. However, the issue of price rise could emerge as the dominant theme of the session, with the opposition and the Left in no mood to spare the government on this front.



The Left, which has repeatedly brought up price rise, has sought a ban on futures trading in essential commodities. CPI leaders - AB Bardhan and D Raja - met the Finance Minister on Saturday to discuss the issue. They also demanded increased government intervention in procurement and distribution of essential commodities.



While Chidambaram assured the Left delegation that the government was taking steps to check price rise, his portrayal of the Indian economy by citing the GDP growth rate and increasing investments did not please the CPI leaders.



The Congress itself has also been putting pressure on the government to curb the inflation spiral at the earliest. With the measures taken by the government and the RBI to check inflation yet to take effect, inflation is bound to trouble the government in the Parliament session.





Inflation to be contained : PM



Taking note of the demand for containing inflation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday, Feb. 3 that policy measures would be taken on a priority basis to check the price spiral. Addressing the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council in New Delhi, he said while the global environment was currently conducive to sustaining India’s higher growth rate, it was necessary to ease the domestic constraints on growth.



Dr. Manmohan Singh identified inflation as a key challenge before the Indian economy and said that the steps taken by the Government and the Reserve Bank of India should bring respite on this front. A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office later said the Government is committed to containing inflation at around 5 to 5.5 per cent.





Tax the rich : Left



The Left parties have drafted a 14-point People’s Charter for the Budget, emphasising the need for generating resources to fulfil promises made in the National Common Minimum Programme. The charter says that corporate houses and the rich should be taxed to raise the resources.



The Left’s argument is that the bigger corporate houses are getting greater tax benefits and this was a regressive model. The trade unions, which had a meeting with Finance Minister also sought the removal of tax exemptions for corporate houses. At a meeting of the four Left parties to discuss their demands for the 2007-08 Budget, it was decided that CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat will draft a note which will be finalised by the Left and sent to the Government.



The Left parties want the Government to focus on agriculture, price rise, unemployment, health and education. The demands are likely to include extending the National Employment Guarantee Scheme to 200 districts, As of now, it benefits 100 districts.



The Left, which has already sought a sub-plan for Muslims in the 11th Five Year Plan in the wake of the Sachar Committee findings, is likely to seek a commitment from the government on implementing packages for the minorities besides the Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes.



The Left has been seeking a widening of the tax net focusing on the upper classes, an increase in rates of wealth tax, setting special targets for realisation of tax-arrears and recovery of non-performing assets. It has also been demanding that the salaried class should not be subjected to any additional income tax burden.





Defend Indian Patents Act : CPI(M)



The CPI(M) has asked the Manmohan Singh Government to vigorously defend the Indian Patents Act in Indian courts and on the international platform in the interest of those suffering from life-threatening diseases. A Swiss multi-national pharmaceutical company, Novartis, has challenged the Act in the Madras High Court. In a statement, the CPI(M) politburo said the Government should mobilise public opinion against the “greed for profits” of such companies.



Novartis is claiming patent on Gleevec, an anti- leukaemia drug. The CPI(M) said Gleevec was a test case for the Indian Patents Act. If the patent was accepted, then it would cost Rs.1,20,000 for a month’s medicine against the indigenous cost of only Rs. 8,000. The company had filed a patent application for a slightly modified version of a drug that it had patented in 1993. Section 3(d) of he Patents Act, which prevents frivolous patents based on small tinkering on existing modules, was being challenged.





RSP favours withdrawal of Left support



One of the four Left parties, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), has favoured withdrawal of support to the Congress led UPA Government at the Centre. RSP leader Abani Roy said in New Delhi on Feb. 1 that the Left should not continue giving a lifeline to what he called the anti-people policies of the Manmohan Singh Government. The RSP, however, has not got support from other Left partners, the CPI(M), the CPI and the All India Forward Bloc for the withdrawal of support. Abani Roy also asked the CPI(M) to review its stand on the question of special economic zones. Otherwise, he said, the RSP would start a statewide campaign against the West Bengal Government on the issue.



In a related move, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has strongly backed West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s agenda on industrialisation of the state and criticised both the anti-reform lobby within the state and Left Front partners. In an editorial in the party’s Bengali mouthpiece, Ganashakti, he said those who do not believe in the need to change strategies are deceiving themselves.