Honourable Speaker, Sir,
I am grateful to the honourable Members who have participated in
the debate on the Budget. I am thankful to the honourable Members who have
given their general support to the proposals contained in the Budget. I am all
the more grateful to the honourable Members who have taken a critical attitude.
This is because I realize that we are faced with a complex and very
difficult situation. There are no straight answers to many of the questions.
There are no simple solutions. Therefore, I realize that there would be
alternative approaches to every question. When honourable Members made points which
were not in conformity with the proposals, it is not as if they had
no relevance120 or no validity
at all. I can assure honourable Members that it is not just without any
discussion or detailed140
study that I have formulated these proposals. I have had as much wide
discussion as possible. There has been a160
very detailed examination of the various problems. On that basis, I have
made my judgement and formulated the proposals. I do not claim that
these are the very best proposals. Therefore, in a situation of this sort
the other points of view are more important than the points of
view which have been in support of the proposals. I would
assure the honourable Members that I shall certainly examine all the
points that have been made and if there are240 any problems or difficulties, it
would be my endeavour to correct them as we go along. At the same time,
I would like to say that there was a consensus particularly with
regard to the priority we have got to280
observe in tackling the problems. Almost all the honourable Members have
emphasized the aspect of inflation because if the general price rise goes on in
the same manner as it has been going on during the last two years, 320 it would be an end of all our
planning process. It would create a lot of problems for the economy as a whole because
it is in an inflationary situation that the income distribution also gets
distorted. Therefore, the Government of India360 attaches great importance to the
tackling of the inflationary situation.
First of all, the inflationary situation should be
tackled on the basis of a financial discipline. That financial
discipline has to be observed in these sectors if I may say so. One of
them is the sector of public spending or public consumption. Here, the Central
and State Governments420 and
various institutions which are attached to these Governments are concerned. The
second is the private consumption where commercial credit is being utilized.
The third is the illegitimate sector or the black money sector. Unless we
tackle these three sectors, we may not be able to achieve results on a lasting
basis. As far as the financial discipline in the480 Government sector is concerned, it is
for the Central Government to set an example. In this regard, even the
former Minister of Finance had been reviewing the situation periodically. We
are trying to find out where unnecessary expenditure could be
reduced and whether some of the project could be postponed without affecting
the target for their completion. Therefore, it would have to be a
continuing exercise within the Central Government where all the Ministries
would have to cooperate. I am560
glad to say that there has been cooperation and response from all
the Ministries with regard to this aspect. As a result, there will be an
obligation on the part of the State Governments also to observe the same kind600 of financial discipline.
I am sure that the
honourable Members might remember that up to the last Plan period the State
Governments had used overdraft from the Reserve Bank of India for their various
schemes and programmes. After some time, 640 it looked as if there was competition
among the State Governments with regard to the overdraft from the Reserve Bank.
This was leading to a very unpleasant situation. When I was in the Planning
Commission, we took up this question. In consultation with the State
Governments, we came to a conclusion that this practice should not be
permitted. Therefore, no700
State Government would be allowed to take overdraft for the purpose of
raising resources for their schemes and projects. At720 the end of these discussions various guidelines
have been laid down. It has been clearly laid down that if the overdraft
continues for more than a week, notice would be given and payments would be
stopped. I would like to inform the honourable Members in this House
that it has had a good effect. Even though there are certain difficult cases,
in discussion with the State Governments and in discussion with the Reserve
Bank of India, we have taken800
various measures with regard to these few States to overcome the
situation.
Having dealt with the Budget proposals, I now come to
the economic policies. What I am saying that the economic policies
should be really changed today. I was shocked840
and the honourable Members were shocked by those who had spoken outside the
House in favour of capitalism. They are on the one hand praising the previous
Government for helping the big business houses in many ways. On the
other hand, they are also helping the forces that are working
against the weaker sections. This is the technique adopted by those who support
capitalism today. As a result of this technique, it is they who gain and the
country suffers. At this stage, I would like to dispute the facts and
figures given by the honourable Members on the other side of this
House. The report of the Reserve Bank of India shows that there is no
stagnation in agricultural960
production. It also tells us how the production has gone up. The production has
gone up because the Government of980
India has taken the initiative to pump funds into the rural economy. We have
been catering to all the needs of the small farmers. As a result of that,
we have been able to see a rise in production of agricultural commodities. When
they were in power, they were more interested in implementing programmes for
the benefit of the rich agriculturists. The big farmers were more interested in
making quick money and huge profits. They were interested in exploiting the
labourers and poorer sections of the society. They were indulging in hoarding,
black marketing, and other bad practices. They got1080 the support from the big farmers for
their party during elections and at other times. On account of this,
we are not in a position today even in this Budget to find the resources
in the rural sector of the1120
economy. If they had adopted measures for getting finances through tax on
agricultural income, we would have had a huge1120 reserve of funds with us. If they had
got that money, it would not have been necessary to raise excise duty
and other similar levies.
I would like to draw the attention
of the honourable Members to what has been happening in the industrial
sector during the last five years of their Government. It is these
capitalists who are deliberately1200
stopping production. It had compelled them on the one hand to give concessions
in the name of incentive for production. On the other hand, those capitalists
had been earning huge profits by raising the prices, creating scarcities and
starving the nation. This is what has been happening. Therefore, the bad
element in the economy has been the big money, whether1260 in agriculture or industry. They
have been giving concessions to them in the name of production instead of
taking action1280 against
them. They are responsible for our labourers losing their jobs. We are
all for production. Our country cannot survive if, by the hard work of our
countrymen, we do not raise production. I am proud to say that I am a part of
the working classes. Therefore, I attach importance to production. The working
classes have always been for production in our country and throughout
the world. We are not moving away from production.
Sir, I thank you for giving me
this opportunity to participate in the debate on atrocities on Dalits. I
think this is a black day for the people of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes of this country. After this Government came into
power, atrocities on1400 Dalits have increased to such an extent
as has never happened from the days of our Independence. Mahatma Gandhi fought
not only for the freedom of the country but also fought for the freedom
of SCs and STs, depressed classes1440 and minorities. These are the people who fought for
our freedom. Lakhs of people have given their life for our freedom including
Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs and Jains. It is not that India
is meant for a single community or religion. It is meant for the
people belonging to all the religions existing before Independence in this
country. At the same time, Baba Saheb Ambedkar also fought for
equality of the depressed classes including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes. He fought with the British for want of a separate electoral system for
the SCs and STs and to bring equality in this nation. At last, under the
able guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, at the Round Table Conference, they agreed that
we have to have a multiple electoral system with reservations. Baba Saheb
Ambedkar agreed to it. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime
Minister of India, after getting the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi,
appointed Baba Saheb Ambedkar as the1600 Chairman of the Draft Committee of the Constitution of India.
