In India, where socio-economic problems need to be handled urgently, a budget should actually inform about initiatives in the social sector. But then, being election year, the FM would only grossly discount social priorities and engineer a magnificent growth story for the upper crest of our population. Attempts would be made to build an economic system of the top 20%, by the top 20% and for the top 20%! And if that happens, it is time we immediately banned such a futile budget exercise!!!
Create a national database and biometric cards for the poor, triple the allocation for NREGS, quadruple allocations for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan & Mid Day Meal schemes, increase post-matric scholarships allocation by ten times for poor students, increase National Rural Health Mission allocation by five times, and allocate Rs.5,000 crores to create RTI awareness. The book The Great Indian Dream (coauthored by Dr. M. K. Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri) lists the methods to raise the additional funds (approximately Rs. 200,000 crores) required for these initiatives.
Students, teachers and regulators were the ‘three idiots’ focused on. The alternatives suggested included quadrupling of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and Midday Meal scheme allocations to Rs.100,000 crores, announcing of cash incentives of Rs.1 lakh for teachers and Rs.2 lakh for principals who delivered the best ‘pass’ and ‘student retention’ results, increasing post-matric scholarships allocation by more than 10 times to about Rs.20,000 crore, dismantling corrupt regulatory bodies like AICTE and UGC – and abolishing direct subsidies for the middle class and rich to generate the funds required.
The alternatives suggested included increasing annual allocations for farmers by Rs.100,000 crores. This would have helped in creating 150 million additional jobs in rural India in a span of 5 years, improving rural infrastructure – including irrigation facilities, functional roads, a vast network of cold storage and regular supply of electricity – and improving social infrastructure, including better access to education, health and sanitation. Doing away with all the subsidies on LPG, kerosene and diesel, would have provided close to Rs.100,000 crore of the required funds.
A budget for rahul gandhi — Year 2012
The only solution for ending corruption is having a functional judicial system, by having 20,000 additional judges per year; this would require an allocation of an additional Rs.6,000 crores per year. The alternatives also reinforced past solutions, including increasing the focus on education and healthcare (as per the Budget for Three Idiots) and on employment generation schemes and slum removal schemes (as per the Do Dooni Chaar budget). Legalizing black money, withdrawing various exemptions and abolishing various subsidies would have generated the required funds.
