NEW DELHI: The opposition came down heavily on the union budget describing it as “self-defeating” and highly inflationary” while the ruling Congress (I) termed it 88.4 “courageous and imaginative ” attempt to tide over India’s deep economic crisis, Branding it as a “command budget of measures. This package conformed to the “IMF Diktat”, they said.
The Congress-I, on the other hand, said the budget reflected the honesty of the party’s govt that it would implement the election promises. Congress-I leaders said the budget was “excellent” given the present economic situation.
Apex bodies of trade and industry generally hailed the budget, but said the enhancement of the corporate tax on widely held companies could have been avoided.
While the AICC-I spokesman, Prof C.P. Thakur, hailed the Finance Minister for cutting down non-plan expenditure and reducing subsidies, another party leader, V.N.Gadgil said it was a “sincere attempt at creative updating of the Nehru model without yielding to marketism”.
The opposition leaders were particularly critical of the withdrawal on subsidy on fertilizer, hike in prices of petroleum products and the raise in duty on sugar which, they felt, would severely affect the middle class and poor people.
The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) L K Advani, said the budget had let down the salaried class by not increasing the income tax limit which was looked forward to by large sections of the people.
The former Prime Minister V.P.Singh described the budget as “inflationary” and. Said the govt had failed to keep its promise to check the spiraling price rise.
decline in real terms on the overall expenditure on defense in view of the infla-
Article extracted from this publication >> August 2, 1991
