High on promise, low on specifics Day of reckoning | |
OUR BUREAU | |
Calcutta, Aug. 11: Intent makes it a budget, content not exactly so. Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra today unveiled in the Assembly a summary of "the annual financial statement" and promised to reshape the economy through an ambitious plan. Mitra has said he will lower the cumulative share of the three biggest components that devour most of the state's earnings. Salary, pension and interest outgo — the combined price of the recruitment and borrowing policies of the Left government — now eat up an astounding 93 per cent of Bengal's revenue receipts. The state finance minister wants this gigantic slice to shrink to around 74 per cent this year — an ambitious goal that, if achieved, will help shovel more money into projects to build social and physical infrastructure. "The combined outgo on account of salaries, pension and interest is around 93 per cent of the state's revenue receipt. We will bring it down to around 74 per cent," Mitra said. The target cannot be achieved without augmenting revenue collection since the minister has said the allocation for salary and pension will be increased. Mitra's summary — he calls it an "abstract" — does not include any tax proposals, although he forecast that Bengal on its own would generate additional revenue of Rs 6,390 crore this financial year. Of the projected additional revenue, Rs 300 crore will come from liquor and online lottery taxes. The document tabled by Mitra today is silent on the other specific items from which he hopes to collect the remaining money. The picture could become clearer when he presents the finance bill, which may include tax proposals, on August 29. However, Mitra's document — titled "An abstract of The Annual Financial Statement 2011-2012 & Trends of Expenditure and Growth Trajectories" for the sake of simplicity — drops some broad hints about the areas he is pinning his hopes on. According to Mitra's estimates, the government expects to garner significant additional resources under four major heads — sales tax (an extra Rs 3,348.72 crore), stamp duty and registration fees (Rs 737.78 crore), excise (Rs 606.36 crore) and motor vehicles tax (Rs 352.33 crore). Although the summary contains such projections for the current fiscal under several other heads, it is not clear whether the government will try to achieve that target by raising tax rates or increasing compliance. The finance minister announced the salary bill of the state government would be raised by 12 per cent and that for pension by 7 per cent. "The hiked salary and pension provision has been made for fresh recruitment, not for individual salaries or pension,'' he said. Promises such as those made by Mitra form the core of any state budget — defined as the annual financial statement of a government. But the absence of tax proposals led the Opposition to allege that Mitra's statement could not be construed as a budget. Refusing to give in to the demands of the Opposition — and the wishes of the Centre — Mitra told the House that his vote-on-account budget, presented on June 24, had "all that is needed" in a budget. "Today, I am laying down its abstract to the members to avoid obfuscation and introduce transparency. We are doing this so that the members can understand the state's financial scenario," Mitra said. With a projection of 31.4 per cent increase in the state's revenue receipt, Mitra promised to bring about a change in a year's time. The estimated total additional revenue — including own tax revenue, share of central taxes, non-tax revenue and grants-in-aid from the Centre — has been pegged at Rs 15,731 crore. According to the Opposition, this is the first time a precedent — of not presenting a budget — has been set anywhere in India. Former finance minister Asim Dasgupta had presented a vote-on-account in March and Mitra had followed it up with another in June. "How will the government run without a full-fledged budget? Why isn't the government exercising its right to tax?" demanded Opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra. The CPM leader also underscored the need to tax the rich for water — something Mamata Banerjee is allergic to despite nudges and a cash go-slow from the Centre. But Abdur Rezzak Mollah, the voice of dissent in the CPM, congratulated Mamata for not imposing water tax. Mitra's nine-page document sets another precedent. It furnishes some key numbers — revenue expenditure, revenue receipts, fiscal deficit, revenue deficit and other parameters — in a concise form. "Instead of giving 25 volumes, I have tried to present the situation in a compact form," Mitra said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110812/jsp/frontpage/story_14370580.jsp |
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