Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has described the Union Budget for the year 2010-11 presented in the Parliament on Friday as anti-poor and added that it reflected the Union Government towards common masses.
The Chief Minister said that proposed hike in petrol and diesel will affect the common man at large as this would lead to more transportation cost thereby affecting every sphere of life and would increase prices of essential commodities.
Mr. Dhumal said that Union Government once again did discriminate against Himachal Pradesh by not extending the long awaited industrial package which had been given by the NDA Government till 2013 earlier and later brought down to 2010 by the UPA Government. He said that this would affect industrial growth in Himachal Pradesh as the package was attracting a large number of industrial houses to the State.
The Himachal Pradesh State Committee of the CPI (M) has called for the withdrawal of the indirect tax proposals which would fuel inflation and adversely affect the people. The increase in petrol and diesel prices to the tune of over Rs. 2.50 per litre must be summarily rescinded. The cuts in food and fertiliser subsidy also need to be reversed.
The CPIM calls upon all its Party units in the state to launch protest actions against the anti-people proposals of the Budget, informed Rakesh Singha the Central Committee member from the State. He said the Congress led UPA government has shown the least concern for the poor.
As far as the income part of the budget is concerned again the finance minister has shown class biasness where concessions have been doled out to the rich that include real estate developers, hoteliers and other commercial establishments in direct taxes to the tune of thousands of crores, he said.
The Finance Minister has admitted that there has been a loss of Rs 26000 crores in 2010 -11 due to tax concession to the above stated high income groups. In addition more than Rs 80,000 crores were doled out last year.
In contrast, the Finance Minister has proposed to raise an additional Rs. 60000 crore in indirect taxes over the last year. The most objectionable aspect of the increase in indirect taxes has come in the form of a 5 percent increase in customs duty on crude petroleum along with a Re. 1 per litre increase in central excise duty on petrol and diesel. Raising the prices of diesel and petrol will further fuel all round inflation in the economy, said the CPI-M.
