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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ph:2252660 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ Expectations from the State Budget ------------------------------------------------------ by Nandkumar Kamat
This is a very important week for our state because the people are expecting some revolutionary proposals in the budget for 2003-04. It would be the third successive budget by the Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Parrikar. His first budget was not really 'his' budget or his party's budget. His second budget was a hurried exercise because of the election year. The budget this year is expected to be different because Mr Parrikar had adequate time to identify the needs for prudent financial planning.
For the first time in the history of the budget-making exercise in Goa, the CM has openly invited suggestions from the individuals, organisations and business lobbies. The CM had been meeting various groups at the taluka and panchayat level to identify the needs of the people. Recently he toured some remote villages in Cotigao sanctuary in Canacona taluka. From the few hints which he has been dropping, it is becoming clear that he would spare the common man from further taxation.
It would have been better for the government to present an Action Taken Report (ATR), a point-wise, performance report on the basis of the budget speech of June 2002, along with the latest economic survey for the year ending in March 2003. A critical reading of the CM's budget speech last year shows that several proposals have been delayed. Some of these proposals include the new industrial policy, a new housing policy and five-year developmental plans for the major towns. Perhaps these would be carried forward in the new budget.
The CM's budget speech of June 14, 2002 had not mentioned the
sweeping proposal of carving out a municipal corporation for the city of Panaji.
The bill for the same was introduced on July 22, 2002 or 69 days
after the budget speech. This means that the idea of the corporation
was cooked in haste after presentation of the budget proposals.
This is not a healthy trend. If reliable sources have to be believed
than an advisor to the government sold the idea of a corporation
to a minister by dangling the carrot of massive notional International aid.
This is akin to hijacking the democratic decision-making process.
Such self-styled rehabilitated advisors, cut-off from the throbbing
pulse of public opinion, cause more damage to Goa than some
ill-conceived plans of the government.
The budget-making exercise has been unnecessarily shrouded in mystery. The government takes cognisance of only the official economy of Goa and has to ignore the underground or parallel economy worth Rs 2000 crore. If the Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) is taken as an indicator of the wealth generation and the intensity of economic activity, the new economic survey may project an NSDP of Rs 6000 crore for 2000-01. The budget size would be less than a third of NSDP. The government has no reliable figures of capital formation in organised and non-organised sectors. But the annual simple interest at 3 per cent on the bank deposits pumps in Rs 300 crore into the local economy.
There is no cross-verification and checking system to predict, identify, detect and plug revenue leakages or discourage flight of capital or to promote free flow of enhanced bank credit. There is no compulsory, mandatory mechanism to ensure strict compliance of the remarks in the annual reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Even if 50 per cent of the remarks of CAG were to be taken seriously by the previous and present governments, the extravagant expenditure would have been curtailed. There would have been better fiscal management. The budget allocations need to be linked to the reports of CAG with departments as the base.
Every year, it is shocking to see enhanced budgetary allocations for the same departments which had received critical remarks by CAG in the past. The new CAG report may be presented to the assembly by the end of this month. The government needs to use this opportunity to introspect about the in-built elements of mismanagement and inefficiency. If the CM desires that every rupee on public expenditure needs to be translated into a verifiable public good or welfare measure then there is no escape from applying a course correction using CAG reports.
The new budget would incorporate the VAT system about which the local industry is apprehensive. Already the common citizens in Goa pay the highest per capita taxes in India. A rationalisation of taxes and fees is expected in the new budget. Considering the water crisis and the power problems, the government should not encourage water guzzling and power hungry products. On the contrary, water and electricity saving products need to be subsidised and promoted.
The local cultural industry is considered as a luxury by the government. It is expensive to produce audio/video cassettes and CDs in Goa. With 12 per cent taxation, music, films and educational computer software has become a luxury in this land. With 8 per cent taxation, even ordinary stationary, badly required by the three lakh students of Goa, has become a luxury item. The sports material is heavily taxed. Such areas which would amplify local talent, creativity, and enterprise need to be removed from the tax net because to build a competitive society the government needs to create a level ground for the 'haves' and the 'have nots'.
Visits to any government or big private high schools in Goa tell you the miserable condition of the essential toilets. The budget needs to aim at building adequate number of toilet blocks in all deserving government and aided educational institutions. A society without a good toilet culture would spawn new epidemics. A simple programme like underground sewerage system for all the municipal areas, toilet blocks for all the educational institutions and wayside facilities on all the highways, major roads, road intersections and near the ferry crossings would ensure that the basic sanitary infrastructural needs of the public and the visitors would be fully met.
The budget might see a substantial increase in the public debt and amount for debt servicing because the government would have to resort to deficit financing for some more years. The public debt may exceed Rs 2000 crore in this years' budget. As compared to many other states, on the verge of bankruptcy, it is still not a very alarming amount. Perhaps it is a price to be paid for political stability and to ensure unhindered development.
Mr Parrikar is an excellent financial manager. Nobody doubts his sincerity. The people of Goa need to trust him in their own interest and hope for the best outcome from the new budget. ------------------------------------------ The Navhind Times 24/03/03 ------------------------------------------ ======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy =======================================
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