Business of picking holes in budget

The middle-class could well heave a huge sigh of relief now!

Presenting what was dubbed as ‘reformist’ budget for the next fiscal in Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced significant income tax cuts for the middle class and unveiled a blueprint for next generation reforms for Viksit Bharat as she treaded a fine line between fiscal prudence and providing a thrust to growth.

The Union budget also proposes raising allocations for social sectors as well as providing for measures for poor, youth, farmers and women.

While these announcements could well bring some cheer to the countrymen, I continue to be amused by the ‘mixed’ reactions the budget has evoked over the years.

While the Opposition every once will have all the reasons to term it ‘anti-people’, the ruling on the other hand will not let any chance pass by hailing the budget as a ‘fair’ deal to the common man.

Reserving various comments for the budget, I wonder if the party leaders have even had a chance to study the projected estimate of the income and expenditure for the year before they express their disappointment over the whole exercise.

It is argued that the budget is not just an annual financial exercise, but a well-calibrated booster that aligns policies, resources, and reforms to accelerate the country’s trajectory toward becoming a developed economy.

The Indian budget goes beyond being a financial statement as it represents the nation’s growth in the last financial year and aspirations for the next one. Therefore the process of preparing the budget requires a detailed data analysis and strategic moves that match the existing status and aspiration.

Besides, the preparation of the budget in India is an elaborate process that ensures the inclusion of almost every ministry, stakeholders and representatives of industries and all sectors.

I gathered these particulars from a blog by the ‘Bajaj Broking Team’ which goes on to give a detailed account from the initiation stage of the budget process to its final presentation.

So how is that such an elaborate process as the comprehensive presentation of the government’s fiscal roadmap is ready for dissection in the public domain in equally  fast time as the Opposition goes about expressing its ‘disappointment’ with the budget!

This ludicrous exercise has been going on for decades now with some of the salient features endorsed by a dispensation while in ruling quickly turning into a ‘disaster’ no sooner its members occupy the Opposition benches and vice versa.

How the GST regime came into existence after a 17-year-long wait is indicative of that ‘trend’!

Makes one wonder whether all this opposition against any and everything proposed by the government is a routine response that varies with the position of power occupied by various political combines!

Going by the dictum that opposing is the Opposition’s prerogative in any political setup, are we to presume that these pretentious exaggerations do not amount to much and are the most obvious responses which wouldn’t be any different from those of the ruling dispensation if it were to be in the Opposition.  

Having gauged this ‘trend’, it is not difficult to understand the spate of agitations staged and sponsored by the Opposition against what they term as the ‘divisive’ politics of the government.

Breaking down the anatomy of many such agitations hasn’t been all that difficult.

The Opposition’s main role is to question the government of the day and hold them accountable to the public. But does this warrant the frequent parliamentary disruptions with the Opposition stalling the proceedings in the supreme legislative body of the country over some issue or the other?

Speaking about shrinking of the sittings of legislatures at the 54th SoCATT meeting, Toronto, Canada, September 4-7, 2018, Pradeep Kumar Dubey, principal secretary, UP legislative assembly stated:

“Dissent is a critical component of any democracy and, in that light, disruptions could be seen as a part of established parliamentary practice. To wish it away is unrealistic and even undemocratic. However, it becomes a cause for concern when disruptions become the norm, rather than the exception.”

Another comment in a leading daily mentions that “the tactic of disrupting of proceedings of the Parliament has been in vogue in India for over two decades now”.

Considering that the combines which occupy the treasury and Opposition benches today had a role reversal a decade back more than clarifies this contention.

Need anything more be said!

Opposing the government on specific issues where it has faltered and needs to be corrected is indeed commendable, but opposing only for the sake of opposing can be counterproductive.

But as things stand today, how effective is the Opposition in mobilising a strong support against what it claims is the highhandedness of the government in various matters and which, it feels, could be detrimental to the country’s progress!

So basically it is all bark and no bite which characterises the Opposition in India today.

However, the Opposition needs to work more towards making itself relevant in a situation where its survival is at stake. Dissent over issues at this stage would deserve more than mere theatrics.

(Pachu Menon is a senior columnist and author based in Goa.)