English playwright George Bernard Shaw had once said, “A government with the policy to rob Peter to

Added: (Sat Mar 06 2010)

Pressbox (Press Release) - March 6, 2010 1:45 am

Though, budget through ages has been all about planning how and where to spend public money. How important is the Budget to the masses? How does it affect them? To the common man on the street, gross domestic product figures are not important. Neither are export-import statistics. What is of utmost importance is if there is any visible improvement in their standard of living. Will this year’s Budget let him have more money in hand at the end of the day, that is what we want to know. He is concerned about only few sectors that affect him directly, and is mostly unaware of even the existence of any other sector demanding budgetary allocations.
Come February, budget becomes a hot topic of discussion and debate at every party or adda round the corner. Knowing fully well that nothing is going to change for the aam admi . He shall have to struggle with inflation, price rise, job cuts, compromises. Much depends on what you were expecting would come out of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s briefcase on the day the Budget was announced. If you wanted more growth steroids as the market did, you would have got into a depression. But if you weren’t expecting too much or even nothing at all, the immediate aftermath of Budget 2010 will not be too bad a time to be in.
English playwright George Bernard Shaw had once said, “A government with the policy to rob Peter to pay Paul can be assured of the support of Paul.” But what happens if the government wants not only the support of Paul, but also that of Peter, Patrick, Phillip, Pam and just about anybody? You get an economic policy package like Budget 2009 presented by the FM that tries to give something to everybody. Now, one can argue that one can’t give enough to please everyone, but try telling that to an astute politician like Mukherjee, who tried to manage the contradictions in a way only a seasoned politician can.
Since the UPA government’s recent electoral success was based on the “please all” mantra of “give, give and give still more”, the Budget is clearly all about sticking to a winning formula.
Not even media, the fourth pillar of democracy is keen in highlighting the plight of the common man who is the victim of price rise and reccession. But what interests media is Finance Minister’s daughter writing the most farcical article on budget.
Yes , you have guessed it right .I mean the open letter exchanged between “Father and Daughter ”.In fact a leading regional newspaper has devoted half page highlighting the letters .Although almost every newspaper has carried the news. To sum it up the letter is nothing but a farce. The only sensible thing the daughter of the soil has seeked tax relief for artists. But, there is nothing new as most respected artists have been asking for it for a long time though in vain. Thanks Sharmistha (Munni) it will surely be on FM’s agenda next year