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Leaders, traders flay Budget
POLITICAL PARTIES and traders? bodies have condemned the general Budget presented by the Finance Minister P Chidambram in Parliament today. All of them flayed two per cent hike in service tax by the FM this year. Most of the organisations have termed the Budget as anti-commonman. Reacting on the Budget, the Indian Industries Association (IIA) president Tarun Khetrapal said that though the Budget has something for agri sector, but nothing has been done for the small and medium scale industries.
POLITICAL PARTIES and traders’ bodies have condemned the general Budget presented by the Finance Minister P Chidambram in Parliament today. All of them flayed two per cent hike in service tax by the FM this year. Most of the organisations have termed the Budget as anti-commonman.
Reacting on the Budget, the Indian Industries Association (IIA) president Tarun Khetrapal said that though the Budget has something for agri sector, but nothing has been done for the small and medium scale industries. He said it was sad more so when the 70 per cent of the employment was being provided by the SSIs and more than 90 per cent of the industries are SSIs. He said CST has not been reduced as promised by the FM.
Similarly, chairman of the Cooperative Industrial Estate Dadanagar Vijay Kapoor criticised the area of service tax along with the increase of two per cent of the same. He predicted that prices would soar following the Budget. He said that wrong statistics have been presented to woo the commonman.
President of the Kanpur Udyog Vyapar Mandal Naval Khanna predicted hardships for the commonman with the Budget as nothing much has been done for them. He said the worst things, which a commonman would have to face, is the increase in the rate of service tax along with area of imposition.
Income tax sub-committee chairman of Kanpur Kapda Committee Satya Narain Singhania said that the Budget lacked the energy and scrapping of Section of 1/6 of the Income Tax would have no affect. He terms the increase in rate of interest in service tax and widening the area was a mistake of the UPA government.
President of the Kanpur Paper Merchant Association Mohan Agrawal said that reducing excise duty on paper industry from 16 per cent to 12.5 per cent would do no good in reducing the price of the paper since the small paper industries, which were already giving 12 per cent excise duty, were contributing most in the production of paper.
District president of the Samajwadi Party Mehtab Alam said that the Budget was not for commonman and was more inclined to make well-off persons of the society happy.
While district president of the BJP of north unit Rakesh Sonker indicating towards Left parties say in the Budget, said that it was a Budget with black shadow of red ribbon-bearers. He said poor people did not need car, cold drink and fast food but, rice, chapatti and pulses. With the burden of service tax on middle class, capitalists have been given relief. However, district president of the Congress Abdul Mannan said that general Budget was for poor, minorities and villagers. He said that increased budgetary provision in energy and health sector indicated the government’s concern for development and people’s problem.
