The Budget provides proof of the United Progressive Alliance government having forgotten the importance of its own “flagship schemes”. BUDGET 2012-13 provides conclusive proof that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has lost its way. It has managed the remarkable feat of upsetting almost everyone and making no one happy. The Budget is highly regressive in both taxation and spending terms and will raise prices of essentials, so aam aurat and...

One man’s fiscal problem is another man’s lifeline. Trigger happy bureaucrats and economists may love shooting down subsidies because it bloats the fiscal deficit and burdens the government but the simple fact is that in a one billion strong nation, in which nearly one in every three live below the poverty line, one needs an effective and efficient method through which privileged tax payers can support the poor. Last week, finance...

-The Times of India Many feel the Budget is positive for the education sector, with good amounts allocated to higher education and school education exempted from service tax Pranab Mukherjee, finance minister, presented the Union Budget for the year 2012-13 on Friday, with reference to the state of the global economy and its impact on India. The Budget seems positive for the education sector, with good amounts allocated to higher education and...

In this year's budget, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has essentially tried to consolidate the gains from the initiatives he had launched during the previous two budgets. Thus, in agriculture there is no new initiative except increasing the target for agricultural credit to Rs.5,75,000 crore during 2012-13. This represents an increase of over Rs.1,00,000 crore from last year. The interest rate of four per cent recommended by the National Commission...

-The Economic Times The NGOs and experts working in water sector have welcomed the idea of promoting private investment in irrigation sector. "There is need and large scope for participation of Private Sector in the irrigation sector. The success will however will depend upon how the details are worked out taking views of local people and NGOs into consideration," said Dr Madhav Chitale, former secretary, Ministry of Water Resources.  The Finance Minister...