The government’s decision to cut social sector spending (“ >Social sector funds slashed ,” Nov. 27) is yet another attempt to deceive the people. The aim of maintaining a low fiscal deficit in order to “promise good days ahead” is unfortunate. Slashing social sector spending will only lead to a weakened nation. In this era of globalisation and growing, intense competition, it is unlikely that the intended benefits will trickle down in an equitable manner. Decisions like these will only lead to a gulf between “India” and “Bharat”. In the hurry to become industrialised, social goals must not be forgotten.
Shivendra Bisht,
Lucknow
Even though huge expenditure on the social sector may be unsustainable and defeats having sound economic fundamentals, the government still needs to look at the larger picture. People need good infrastructure for development but this should not be at the cost of health, education, sanitation and social security. Instead of cutting funds, the government must revamp the delivery mechanism through DBT or Aadhar so that leakage is minimised, the tax base is widened and corruption is minimised. We cannot ignore the millions of marginalised sections who look forward to better social security.
Navin Kumar,
Hurhuru, Jharkhand
The move will only hit the poor. The drastic 25 per cent reduction in the allocation for rural development will curtail the number of days of work available under MGNREGA. It is bad economics to target programmes such as MGNREGA. Targeting the health sector will only boost private health-care providers, adding to the debt burden of the poor.
N. Ramesh,
Thanjavur
Making promises at the time of elections and then forgetting about them is nothing new in politics; the BJP appears to be no different. The Opposition needs to rise as one and stop this corporate-pampering.
G.B. Sivanandam,
Coimbatore
