Expert flays ‘less’ Budget allocation for poor

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 14

More than 100 participants, including professors, bankers, doctors and farmers, participated in a seminar on ‘Analysing Union Budget 2019-20’, organised by the Chetna Manch, here today.

Prof Lakhwinder Singh Gill, Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala, delivered the keynote address. He laid emphasis on the fact that in the absence of reliable data, right policies cannot be formulated.

Criticising the lesser allocations towards the poor and marginalised sections of society, Gill said concentrating more on corporate-focused investments was sheer wastage of resources and time. He categorised the Budget as paradoxical as on the one hand, the government was restraining from world trade by imposing customs duty and on the other hand, it’s propagating liberalisation of the economy through sovereign debts. “Public investment, which is largely an outcome of tax revenues, domestic savings and disinvestment, is under cloud owing to the slowing down of the economy,” he said.

Another speaker SK Khosla said while the Budget was altogether confusing, there was no conversation among people about the Budget. He said additional excise duty and cess on petrol and diesel will have cascading affect in the coming days and the poor strata of society will bear the brunt.

PDS Uppal, president, Chetna Manch, while proposing a vote of thanks, said seven per cent growth proposed in the Budget would not create millions of jobs, which was the need of the hour. After the session, the intellectuals cleared their doubts about various proposals presented by the Finance Minister in the Budget.