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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Budget 2018: It is by the privileged for the privileged -Aruna Roy

Budget 2018: It is by the privileged for the privileged -Aruna Roy

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published Published on Feb 5, 2018   modified Modified on Feb 5, 2018
-The Financial Express

Budget 2018: The government claims that this is the Budget for a “new India”.However, this vision excludes rural workers, small & marginal farmers and the unorganised sector. Many claims are being made about the farm sector. The fact is even the “optics” only partially meet these. The substance of this Budget shows how little it caters to farmers, and the economically & politically marginalised.

The demand of farmers agitating across the country—accepted by the BJP—for implementation of the MS Swaminathan report has been sidestepped in its specifics and substance. While announcing 50% of input costs to be added in the calculation of the MSP, one must look at the manner in which this government plans to calculate input costs. As the Swaminathan committee recommends, comprehensive input costs (C2) including minimum wages for family labour and costs of lease of land, should be the basis for adding 50% to calculate the MSP. The government however is using a formula based on partial input costs (A2) to calculate the base, making the entire calculation deficient and infructuous, and undermining the concept itself. Therefore, the Budget comprehensively fails to deliver on the promise of doubling farmers’ income.

Related to this is the question of adequate resources for protecting the MSP through state procurement in mandis. Without this, even the limited announcement of MSP will not be followed by profit-makers in the market and the entire effort of providing farmers adequate income will fail.

The social sector as a whole continues to be neglected. This year’s allocation of `55,000 crore to MGNREGA stands at the same amount as last year’s revised estimate. Inflation, pending liabilities and sub-minimum wages aren’t being addressed and therefore, the mandate of the MGNREGA will continue to be violated.

The grandest announcement in the social sector is the massive expansion in the coverage of hospitalisation insurance for the poor. Raising coverage from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 5 lakh for a year per family, and to 10 crore families will probably make it, as the FM has said, one of the biggest hospitalisation insurances in the world. However, not using these resources to strengthen India’s public health infrastructure, indicates the government’s bias towards supporting the private sector at the cost the people. India’s failing public healthcare system needs this money direly.

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The Financial Express, 2 February, 2018, http://www.financialexpress.com/budget/budget-2018-it-is-by-the-privileged-for-the-privileged/1045800/


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