Following
is my brief comment on the Union Budget 2013-14 that The Hindu carried in its Letters
to the Editor column on Friday, March 01, 2013
Populist and cautious are the words I would use to
describe the Union budget 2013-14. Mr. Chidambaram has introduced a number of
schemes to accommodate the interests of large sections of the middle class and
the poor. However, the revenue side has cast a shadow of darkness. Taxing the
rich and helping the poor is absolutely fine but the strategy to generate
revenue to fund many of the programmes and contain fiscal deficit is vague. The
Panchayati Raj Institutions have got nothing except a proposal of an additional
Rs. 200 crore. This is mere tokenism. Unfortunately, the priorities spelt out
in the budget do not take us closer to decentralisation.
V. Selvam,
Puducherry
