The belated Budget of the Union Territory of Puducherry for the financial year 2018-19, to be presented during the Assembly session which begins on Monday, should exhibit a modicum of public accountability, productivity and responsibility, former MP M. Ramadass said on Friday.
In a press statement, Mr. Ramadass wanted the authors of the Budget to realise “that it is not merely a financial statement of the proposed income and expenditure of the government for this year or an instrument of false populist promises but a lively document reflecting the real state of the current economy, its problems and the solutions in terms of public expenditure and the schemes announced last year and the status of their implementation.”
Mr. Ramadass said the proposed Budget should be preceded by a short Economic and Social Survey of the Union Territory, an outcome statement and the current financial status.
The Economic Survey should give a bird’s eye view of the growth of the economy and the sources of its growth, inter-regional variation in growth, the employment generated in both public and private sectors, capital-labour ratio, human resource development and the problems facing the economy.
This survey becomes all the more critical in the light of the conflicting statements made by the Chief Minister on the growth of Puducherry economy in recent times, Mr. Ramadass said.
On the one hand, the Chief Minister complained that the economy was not growing because of demonetisation, GST and the lack of cooperation from both the Centre and the Lieutenant Governor, while on the other hand he claims that the economy had grown at 11.7% while the Indian Economy was clocking 6.7% growth.
In the absence of disaggregated data on the sources of growth — in primary sector including agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, secondary sector including small, medium and large scale industries, service sector including trade, transport and infrastructure — the people were perplexed at this staggering growth rate, the former MP said.
Focus on farming
It was known that agriculture of the Union Territory, especially in Karaikal, had been suffering and stagnating because of multiple disabilities, including the non-availability of the Cauvery water.
The industrial scenario was not encouraging despite a new industrial policy. Demonetisation and the GST had caused closure of many small and tiny industries, which resulted in loss of jobs and livelihood to a large number of poor workers. Although the Chief Minister had been promising establishment of many new industries, the data showed that industries were moving out of Puducherry, especially because of the rising crime graph and the threat to the life and liberty of owners of factories.
He blamed the government for lacking political will to enhance industrial production in the public sector enterprises, like AFT, Bharathi and Swadeshi Mills which occupied a place of pride in the industrial map of Puducherry in yesteryear. He did not see any reason to believe that the industrial sector of Puducherry was contributing to the growth of the economy.
This set of circumstances called for a report on the current financial position of the government, including the status of the inclusion of Puducherry in the 15th Finance Commission, Mr. Ramadass added.
