Budget caters to the interest of corporates, not the common man: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind President

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Jamaat e Islami Hind President Sadatullah Husaini.

India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI—Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) President Syed Sadatullah Husaini has said that the union budget 2021-22 caters to the interest of corporates, not the common man.

In a statement issued to media, he said that it was expected that some special scheme would be brought by the government to offer financial assistance to the poorest section of the population which would not have only solved the problems being faced by the poor but also given a boost to the economy by increase in demand.

Similarly, there was dire need for assistance for small and medium enterprises but the budget 2021-22 unfortunately did not fulfill this expectation as well.

Mr Husaini welcomed the budgetary allocation for health though he said that it was less than two per cent of the GDP and the lowest budgetary allocations for health by major economies of the world.

Commenting on slashing of the budgetary allocation for education, a sector that was worst hit by Covid-19, Jamaat chief said that the budgetary outlay for education was very disappointing which was less than even the last financial year. He said that it was surprising that while big plans were being announced with regard to education, it was neglected by the government in terms of budgetary allocations.

The JIH President said: “With a very high fiscal deficit, we are burdening our next generations with debt. Our policy for taxing income and other forms of cess and taxation is also not in favor of the people.”

Commenting on the budgetary allocations, Mr.Husaini said: “The increase in expenditure is welcome as it was badly needed at this time. But there are two issues. One, the expenditure is biased towards corporate-friendly infrastructure boost and much less on social sectors and two, the revenue being collected is either through borrowings or disinvestment. Disinvestment has received a huge boost from Rs 32,000 crore to Rs 150,000 crore. There is substantial cut in the revenue projected from corporate tax. At this juncture, it was the responsibility of big corporates and rich individuals to take the burden of poor people; more so because they were the main beneficiaries of the collapse of the informal economy during lockdown. Measures like Wealth Tax and Covid Cess were also being speculated. But the budget has disappointed by shifting the whole burden of economic slowdown to common people. Another concern area of revenue model is its shift from the federal spirit of our constitution. States’ share is being cut. The proposed agricultural infrastructure cess on oil prices, is also an encroachment into states’ share.”

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