Hailing the Union Budget, the Malabar Development Council (MDC) has said that the proposals to enhance facilities at the National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC) and to set up a medical college in a region catering to three Lok Sabha constituencies would be beneficial to the people of Malabar.
Reviewing the proposals, MDC president C.E. Chakkunny said that the budget also focussed on the development of national highways as well as improving facilities for air passengers and setting up more airports. However, the State government, elected representatives and cultural and social organisations should take a concerted effort to implement the proposals.
Railway development
The Confederation of All India Rail Users’ Association said that the budget stressed on safety and modernisation of railways. An amount of ₹1,48,500 crore has been set aside for the development of railways that included electrification of 4,000 km of railway line. Besides, the installation of 25,000 CCTV surveillance cameras in all stations, doubling of 18,000 km of railway tracks and renovation of 600 railway stations would spur development, association general secretary C.C. Manoj said.
Reacting to the budget proposals, Rudra Sensarma, Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), said the earnings of farmers would go up due to the increase in minimum support prices and agricultural productivity would get a boost from the higher allocations to rural infrastructure.
The innovative health schemes, the proposed affordable housing fund and expansion in Ujjwala scheme will benefit the poor of the country, especially poor women. There were several proposals that would create lakhs of new jobs, he said.
The tax cut for small companies from 30% to 25% , the benefits extended to textile, footwear and leather industries, doubling of allocation to food processing and liberalising of agri exports would increase exports, employment and forex earnings, he said.
However, Prof. Sensarma, said that salaried people did not have much to cheer about. There is a small increase in deductions, no relief on taxes and an increase in the education cess. Besides, the fiscal deficit target had been breached and the target for next year (3.3% of GDP) is higher than what was promised last year.
Higher government borrowing and spending would create inflationary pressures, harden bond yields and prevent the RBI from cutting the repo rate, he added.
Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary A.M. Sheriff said the budget failed to give expectations in most of the segments barring the health sector. No proposals have been made to boost trade and industries sectors.
The budget failed to mention about tackling the frequent rise in fuel prices. Subsequently, the prices of essential commodities in the State were unlikely to come down, Mr. Sheriff said.
