R. Ramakumar

Mar 01, 2011
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Budgeting for a class bias

A widely heard comment on Budget 2012-13 was that it has given increased attention to the social sectors. That, clearly, is a claim overstated. Further, the meagre rise in social sector expenditure has come at a cost; the expenditure on crucial economic sectors has been cut.

Read the fine print, it’s not very nice

Budget 2011-12 marks a sharp retreat of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-2 government from the social and economic sectors. It has cut back expenditures in sectors that matter to common people, especially the poor. On the other hand, it has given huge concessions to the corporate sector in the form of tax cuts and exemptions.

There are certain immutable laws of military history that repeated attempts at disproving them only end up confirming their veracity.

As a self-confessed hardliner, I must admit that being a part of the team engaged in Indo-Pak Track 2 dialogue has been very interesting.

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