In this Issue
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Reject the growing pro-US tilt in the UPA Government's policies.
Oppose Bush's India visit.
Killer Bush
Go Back ! |
General Budget 2006:
Bonanza for Billionaires and Arms Merchants,
Cruel Joke on Jobseekers and Indebted Farmers
Like the railway budget presented on February 24, the general budget presented today has been another massive UPA exercise to pamper the rich and deceive the poor. The government has once again refused to raise the level of direct taxes for the affluent sections and the corporate sector. At the same time, the level of custom duties has been further reduced and in many cases import has been made virtually duty-free. No attempt has been made in the budget to attack black money or plug the loopholes through which big companies have been dodging tax laws. Chidambaram's latest budget is thus yet another big boon for MNCs, big corporate houses and the club of Indian billionaires.
The working people and the growing army of the unemployed have, however, once again been deceived by the government which claims to rule in the name of the ‘aam admi'. Not only is there no pronouncement expanding the scope of the much-trumpeted National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the meagre allocation of Rs. 11,700 crore is highly insufficient to meet the requirements of rural employment guarantee schemes even in the 200 districts currently covered under the NREGA. Assuming that 50 per cent of the allocation would be spent on wages, the allocation is hardly sufficient to provide 100 days of employment to even 1 crore rural jobseekers.
While the UPA government has funds to spend in the name of promoting vedic chanting and Ram Lila, it has once again refused to address the plight of the debt-burdened farmers who continue to be driven to suicidal deaths. The budget says nothing about measures to alleviate this crushing debt-burden – there are promises of cheaper cars but not cheaper credit, let alone interest-free loans, for distressed farmers.
The staggering allocation of Rs. 89,000 crore for defence sector has no rationale in an environment of improving ties with Pakistan and other neighbours. This may be a bonanza for arms merchants and middlemen with high political connections, but it certainly bodes ill for long neglected areas like public health, education and rural development. The agenda of revival of sick industries and promotion of employment-generating industrialistion has also been ignored once again.
The CPI(ML) calls upon all sections of the working people, especially organizations like trade unions, agricultural labour organizations, peasant associations, student-youth organizations and activists of the women's movement to mount pressure on the UPA government for reversal of the budget's orientation of pampering affluent sections and unproductive sectors and fight for provision of immediate relief for the starving poor and indebted peasantry, and for greater allocation on key areas like rural employment, public distribution of essential commodities, public health and education.
Reject the growing pro-US tilt in the UPA Government's policies.
Oppose Bush's India visit.
Killer Bush Go Back !
Budget Figures for Your Reference
How Much Tax Does the Corporate Sector Really Pay?
The Budget says about 40% of the companies pay an effective tax of only 10% or less, while only 8 per cent pay the highest tax rate of over 36.59 per cent.
This information was culled out from a list of 1,689 companies taken from the list of about 9,000 companies in the database of Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), representing various sectors.
Of these 1,689 companies only 39 Indian companies, making profit over Rs 500 crore, account for 60 per cent of the total corporate tax collection in the country. These 39 companies, however, account for 73.5 per cent of the total profits the 1,689 companies make in a year, according to Union Budget 2006-07.
According to the Budget documents, this would mean that these companies are paying an effective tax at the rate of 15.99 per cent — substantially lower than the effective tax rate of 19.37 per cent and the statutory tax rate of 35.875 per cent.
Exemptions they enjoyed in 2005, guess how much it will be in 2006...
The revenue forgone during 2004-05 was a whopping Rs 1,58,661 crore, of which the duty forgone on account of customs exemptions alone was Rs 92,561 crore. Duty forgone on account of excise exemptions was Rs 30,449 crore.
This was stated in a statement on revenue forgone, which was included for the first time in the Budget.
The amount forgone on corporate tax was Rs 57,852 crore. The co-operative sector accounted for Rs 1,534 crore of revenue forgone.
Defence Budget Goes up to Rs. 890 billion, Eight times the NREGA allocation...
For every rupee that the UPA government proposes to spend for rural employment, nearly 10 rupees are being spent in the name of ‘defence'.
The defence outlay has been increasing every year by leaps and bounds, this year's allocation is 7.22 per cent higher than last year's.
Interestingly, the budget for the ministry of external affairs has been reduced from Rs 41.82 billion to Rs 36.95 billion, while special diplomatic expenditures (which provide for discretionary expenditure) have been increased from Rs 7.81 billion to Rs 8.23 billion.
Defence Outlay is up by Rs. 6,000 crore, Rural Employment Gets only Rs. 700 crore more!
In last year's budget, an allocation of Rs. 11,000 crore was made to fund the ‘National Food for Work' scheme in 150 districts, this year's allocation for NREGA in 200 districts is only Rs. 11,700 crore.
In other words, whereas every district received on an average Rs. 73.33 crore last year, this year's average allocation has come down to Rs. 58.50 crore per district, a net reduction of Rs. 14.83 crore for every district.
Assuming an average national minimum wage of Rs. 70, every person should get an annual minimum amount of Rs. 7,000. If 60% of the NREGA allocation is spent for payment of wages, it will provide for hardly 1 billion persondays. In other words, only 1 crore households would at most be benefited under NREGA! But if this year's Economic Survey figures are anything to go by, this is assuming too much for only 17.03 lakh persondays have been generated till December 2005!
Press Handout
(Issued by CPI(ML) General secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya at the Party state office in Patna on 26 February, 2006 )
Bush visit and Growing US intervention in India and South Asia
On the eve of the impending visit of George Bush, the chief of the American war machine and imperialist pirate brigade, the CPI(ML) appeals to all patriotic Indians to rise in powerful mass protests against US intervention in our internal affairs and the UPA government's increasingly pro-US policies. The US has already identified Iran as the next potential Iraq in Asia . Invoking the bogey of Iran 's nuclear programmes the US is planning to impose crippling economic sanctions on Iran . The Bush Administration has also announced an 85 million dollar programme to promote dissent in Iran much on the lines of the infamous Iraq Liberation Act of the US Congress, the precursor to US invasion and occupation of Iraq . India must come out openly against this new American war campaign in Asia .
The Bush visit also marks an intensification of US intervention in India and South Asia . India 's nuclear programmes and the entire energy economy are being mortgaged to the US while US interference in Nepal , Kashmir and various other aspects of Indo-Pak relations is also on the increase. To foil this ugly American design we must categorically reject the growing pro-US tilt in the UPA government's policies.
Lalu Prasad's Rail Budget: Cheating the Poor, Pampering the Rich
The railway budget presented on February 24 has once again made it clear that the UPA government's ‘aam admi' and Lalu Prasad's ‘garib' have nothing to with the actual ordinary people of India . The whole budget is an exercise to pamper the affluent and well-to-do passengers while cheating common passengers by classifying ordinary mail/express trains as superfast trains. The railway minister must be made to explain whatever happened to the promises made in last year's budget. Earthen pots, cups and khadi curtains are hardly to be seen, while the Bharat Darshan and air-conditioned vegetable trains have already been withdrawn. The budget has also weakened the railways by stepping up the process of outsourcing and privatization in the name of promoting public-private partnership.
Employment ‘Guarantee' Mockery in Bihar
Nearly a month after the NREGA was launched amidst a lot of fanfare, Bihar is witnessing wholesale mockery with its implementation. The registration process is the slowest in Bihar and the administration is trying to prevent the majority of Bihar 's landless and jobless from securing their entitlements under the Act. The CPI(ML) appeals to the rural poor in districts of Bihar to get organized under the banner of the All India Agricultural Labour Association and intensify the movement for securing effective employment guarantee. The Party will organize NREGA evaluation camps in all blocks and districts to monitor and expedite the employment campaign.
Nitish Kumar Must Order CBI Probe into Food and Flood Relief Scams
The vigilance findings regarding large-scale irregularities in the PDS in 30 panchayats of West Champaran , Madhubani, Nalanda and Munger districts have only confirmed what is common knowledge in Bihar . The CPI(ML) and AIALA have been waging a sustained and powerful movement against this food scam and the vigilance report marks only the tip of an iceberg. The flood relief and food scams bear a close resemblance to the fodder scam and need to be subjected to a comprehensive CBI probe. The Nitish Kumar government must immediately order CBI inquiries into both these scams that have systematically robbed the poor of the state.
Injustice Inflicted in the Name of Justice
"The very rich can get away with murder and everything else - as long as the victims are less rich. Or less well-connected. This is the rather obvious moral of the Jessica Lall story, one which has outraged the whole nation", noted The Telegraph editorially on Feb.27, 2006. The editorial also observed that "The importance of the Lall murder lies more in its high visibility than in its unusualness. And because the event was so visible, the justice system needed to be seen as dependable, impartial and efficient, and not fizzle out like a damp squib at the end of the process."
True, the event has provided a naked exposure of the system whose rich, powerful and well-connected gentry can get away with everything. But, this is only one part of the story. The same system can efficiently get people like Shahchand convicted to life imprisonment under TADA knowing well that they devoted their whole lives for the cause of the nation, for the democracy of the rural poor and weaker sections, and of course, that they dared challenge the very rich, powerful and well-connected. It can implicate leaders like Rameshwar Prasad, in thoroughly false, fabricated and fictitious cases and throw him into jail. It does not feel ashamed if the killers of "Bathanitola (Bhojpur) massacre" move scot-free and Rameshwar Prasad who fought for justice for the victims, undertook "fast" as a mark of protest, gets booked under 'attempt to suicide' cases.
Instances are galore. Recently one learned judge in the national capital meted out a criminal like treatment to Kavita Krishnan, President of All India Students Association for the 'crime' that she headed the protest demonstrations against the murder of Chandrashekhar and subsequently dared to rally before the Prime Minister's office to demand arrest of Sahabuddin and Sadhu Yadav, brother-in-law of Lalu Prasad who had opened fire on the protesting students of JNU. While well-connected criminals get away with murder, a student leader from a reputed university like JNU is sent to jail and subjected to harassment and humiliation merely for missing a court date.
The outrage of the nation against the judicial farce over Jessica Lall murder is quite reassuring. May it grow into a powerful voice not only against injustice to the victims but also to protect the activists who stand by the victims' side.
'Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan' in UP
CPI(ML) has started 'Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan' (Right to Employment Campaign) in UP from 23 February. The first phase of the campaign was launched from Duddhi of Sonbhadra district. This phase will culminate into a massive dharna at Varanasi on 9-10 March. Party has also released a booklet on the eve of this campaign. It is being demanded to implement the National Employment Guarantee Scheme, expand it to all the districts, and to give an unemployment allowance of Rs. 500 to every degree holder unemployed youth.
The campaign is highlighting the non-issuance of job cards under NREGA despite allocation of Rs. 25 lakhs to each district for job cards, registration and photography, etc. It has been demanded to immediately stop the illegal extortion of money in the name of job cards as well as all the corrupt practices in NREGA.
This has also been demanded to bring urban poor under the purview of employment guarantee act. and issue I-cards in the districts where NREGA is not applicable. Special measures for the weaver community in eastern UP, which is facing starvation owing to the onslaught of liberalisation policies and governmental apathy, are also demanded.
The severe crisis of potable water in districts like Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli needs to be addressed immediately as water table in these areas has gone down much deeper. The government's schemes have proved a failure due to large scale corruption and neglect. The hand pumps were dug at much lesser depth by the contractors and are useless in this region. While peasants are not getting water in canals as dams and canals in the region have gone redundant due to bureaucratic corruption and neglect. CPI(ML) has demanded from the state government to declare a comprehensive plan solve the water crisis.
This campaign is also bringing forth the issue of the hold of mafia and corrupt politicians over the representative institutions as well as the issue of state repression on democratic movements and fake police encounters.
CPI(ML) Reaction on Rail Budget
The rail Budget presented by Lalu Yadav fully reflects the continuation of UPA Government's policy of neo-liberalisation and once again betrays the hopes of the common people as there is nothing in this budget that can make their travel easier.
The so called populist measures proposed, like tariff cut in AC classes, are meant to address only the upwardly mobile section which is benefiting from the neo-liberalisation and is in a very small number. The train journey of the poor will remain as arduous as ever. There are lakhs of migrant workers who would have benefited if the journey in the second class been made less gruelling and the basic infrastructure of the railways would have been strengthened and widened. But in the name of ‘Garib Rath', the railway minister has only made a mockery of the poor. Now Lalu Yadav has gone to the extent of thinking that the poor of the country, facing large scale unemployment, starvation and forced migration, are able to afford the fare in his ‘Garib Raths' which is 75 percent of the AC III Tier – many times higher than the second class.
This Rail Budget takes one more leap forward towards government's obstinate bid for privatization despite widespread public opposition. Providing containers to private operators will cost immensely as the basic infrastructure is to be provided by the Indian Railways, simultaneously, seeing the direction of the reforms, it is certain that the goods will now be carried at the whims of the private operators and will be costlier and more risky. Privatisation of the ticket booking is also a step in this direction. Many services in the railways have already been privatized during previous budgets and they are, including catering, now much costlier.
This Budget says nothing substantial with regard to the most important aspect of safety and security in the railways as well as providing employment opportunities, further reflecting the pro-liberalisation and anti-people policies of the UPA government.
Make NREGA a movement of the rural poor and agricultural labour for broadest participation and control!
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