Front Page   

Sops likely for vulnerable sections

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI April 20. With an eye on the looming elections and the barrage of criticism from the swadeshi lobby, the Government is likely to tone down some proposals in this year's budget where vulnerable sections have been affected. In a bid to give a final shape to such concessions, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today convened a high-level meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, the Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh and the BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu.

With the Finance Bill coming up for discussion this week in Parliament, the meeting is expected to aim at giving "a more human face" to the reforms process. This is despite the fact that this year's budget proposals have not unleashed the usual flood of demands for concessions from various sectors of the economy.

Since the party president is normally not involved in formal discussions on concessions to the Finance Bill, today's meeting clearly shows that the BJP is making its presence felt more strongly as the elections come closer. Indications are that the talks will revolve round the public perceptions of the harshness of budget proposals for some sectors. The effort will be, it is reliably learnt, to provide concessions to the weaker sections such as weavers. Several measures have already been announced for the welfare of powerloom workers but more steps to revive the textile industry through the streamlining of tax procedures or providing some concessions could be on the anvil. Official sources, however, were tightlipped about the precise agenda.

The meeting has been held in the backdrop of the attack on Government policies launched yet again by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch which has opposed the approach of dealing with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well as other liberalisation and reforms programmes. In addition, the BJP is worried about the impact of inflation owing to factors such as the truckers' strike which has pushed up prices in some parts of the country apart from creating pockets of shortages.

The consumer reaction to the steadily rising oil prices has also been a worrying factor as the steep rise in recent months has not been moderated much by the latest price cut announced of only Rs. 1 a litre.

Mr. Vajpayee had given a hint of his thinking on the need for concessions during an address to a chamber of commerce in Jammu where he mentioned some of the hardships faced by some sectors as a result of the budget proposals. He indicated that there would be some rethinking in some areas but declined to indicate the specific nature of concessions being considered.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Sops likely for vulnerable sections
• Truckers turn down Govt. appeal
• Girl behind major ULFA mortar attacks surrenders
• Vohra leaves for Kashmir today
• Shia marches worry U.S. forces in Iraq
• SARS suspects test negative for virus
• India has WMD, says Pak.
• VHP, police clash
• 7 Pak. ultras killed in J&K
• Lalji Tandon faints at rally
• Sehwag in Time list of heroes
• Inflation slips to 6.17%

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu