“Blue print of loot plunder on people, national economy”

CITU DENOUNCES THE ANTI-PEOPLE UNION BUDGET 2025-26

By Dharmraj Mahapatra(Secretary, CITU,Chhattisgarh)

The Union Budget 2025-26 presented today by the Finance Minister of the BJP/NDA Govt maintained scrupulous continuity in its brazenly pro-corporate and anti-people approach while making deceptive postures of so called pro-people and pro-growth initiatives. The Govt, quite consistent to its pro-corporate class bias, have chosen to remain totally indifferent to the stark findings of its own Economic Survey released the day before, on stark reality of wages/earnings of salaried and self-employed workers in 2023-24 still hovering below pre-pandemic level, while corporate profits soaring to 15 year high, having direct impact of slow-down of the economy through squeeze and curb on consumption demand. This has in fact exposed the real face of the NDA Govt’s destructive project behind the shrill noise on its so called Vikasit Bharat programme.

The phenomenon of continuing slow-down in economy and its devastating effect on lives and livelihood of the mass of the people, together of fortune of the corporates climbing an obscene height reflects an ugly perversion in the entire economic policy regime.

The situation demands an expansionary budget, funded out of taxing the corporate and the rich who made illegitimate fortune out of Modi regime’ policy bias in their favour without contributing anything worth either towards quality-employment generation or wealth creation for the national coffer. Despite concessions showered on them including direct resource transfer from various deceptive mechanism during the process of last one decade or so under the stewardship of Modi Regime, private investment did not practically increase much despite meteoric rise in corporate profit accompanied with worsening unemployment as well as aggravating working poverty situation.

But Union Budget 2025 turns out to be a contractionary one, targeting a further lower fiscal deficit target of 4.4% from 4.9% last year. This together with continuance of the hefty concessions awarded to corporate class on their tax obligations over and above the direct transfers to them from national exchequers through various production/capex incentive schemes, employment linked incentive etc and also through Insolvency Bankruptcy Code (IBC) route means further squeeze on expenditure on improving peoples’ welfare and livelihood. And in tune with such an approach, increase in corporate tax collection is estimated at 10.4% only which is insignificant and extremely disproportionate compared to the hefty profit minted by them.

Aggressive privatization through National Monetization Pipeline Route has been reiterated with an ambitious target to garner Rs 10 lakh crores in next five years to partially neutralize the revenue foregone in favour of the private corporate, domestic and foreign which will lead to handing over precious infrastructure including Power, Oil, Transport and Highways, Coal and other Minerals including the precious Minerals , public service network etc to private sector, both domestic and foreign with a focused target of withdrawal of state’s involvement from all those critical and strategic segments of the national economy, altering its basic foundation altogether, fiercely to the detriment of the national interests and its security.

It has pushed further the pace of privatization under the deceptive nomenclature of Private Public Partnership model in every aspect of economy from rural to urban development and every sector from road to space technology. This means in reality the public investment mainly to be exploited for development with operational control with private hands. While the Electricity employees across the nation are up in arms against privatization the Union Budget has offered the concession of increasing the loan borrowing limit of state Govts by 0.5% of the GSDP provided they further the power sector privatization, particularly of the distribution segment. The Allocation for states has also been reduced compared to the previous year in real terms.

The FDI in Insurance sector is increased to 100% from 74% clandestinely through finance Bill in the face of Govt’s failure to pass the Insurance Amendment Bill owing to employees’ struggle. The several Funds proposed like Maritime Development Fund, Urban Challenge Fund, India Infrastructure Project Development Fund are all on Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model, i.e, public fund to be exploited by private for private gains and control which is only a precursor to the privatization.

The Govt has succumbed to USA pressure of opening up the Nuclear Energy sector to the Private Sector for which it has proposed to amend Atomic Energy Act and Civil Liability Act for Nuclear Damage Act.

While the National Manufacturing Policy 2010, Production Linked Incentive(PLI) Scheme 2019 of Rs.1.97 lakh crores and Capex Incentive of Rs.76000 crores and the latest last Budget’s Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme of Rs.2 lakh Crores claimed to have been brought to raise the contribution of manufacturing sector contribution to the GDP to 25%, it did not yield any worthwhile result except channelizing public fund to private kitties, the present budget has introduced another drama of so called National Manufacturing Mission to further Make in India centering around MSME’s while the investment and turnover thresholds have been raised to accommodate the bigger industries into the MSME category, mainly to ensure the benefit of public funds for the biggies.

While much is talked about Agriculture, the Budget estimate for 2025-26 is Rs.2.12 lakh crores less than the Actuals of 2023-24 for the Agriculture and allied activities. For Rural Development also it is Rs.3675 crores less. For Rural Employment also it is Rs.3302 crores less and for MNREGA it is Rs.3268 crores less. For Irrigation and Flood Control also it is Rs.3390 crores less.

It is shocking that the Railway Budget has suffered a cut to Rs 2.55 lakh crores from Rs 2.62 lakh crores previous year. And for Railway Safety it is Rs. 322.50 is less while accidents including fatal ones are increasing alarmingly year on year. Further cut in budget of Railways also indicates the philistine approach of policy makers to hand over Railway operation to privatization process through NMP route.

In the face of aggravating and widening impoverishment countrywide, allocation on Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) has been drastically reduced by Rs 2250 crores. And total food subsidy has also faced a drastic cut by Rs 8364 crores in the current budget compared to actual expenditure in 2023-24.

The Finance Minister in her speech hailed the Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0. (Earlier ICDS) Scheme and announced that the “cost norms for these nutritional norms will be enhanced” for the scheme. The statement turned out to be deceptive as the budget allocation for Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0. Scheme for 2025-26 is Rs. 21960.00 Cr against Rs. 21809.64 Cr budget expenditure in 2023-24, a mere increase of Rs.150.36 Cr. The budget estimate last year was Rs. 21200.00 Cr. If we consider the inflation, there is actual reduction in budget allocation.

The cost norms for the supplementary nutrition were last revised in 2017. Even if we calculate it as actual increase, for around 10 Crores beneficiaries (8 crores children and 2 crore pregnant women lactating mothers for 300 days a year) the increase in cost for nutrition in this budget is a ridiculous 5 paise per child after seven years!

Budget allocation for Mid-Day-Meal (MDM) in the current budget is only Rs. 12500.00 Cr which is drastically below the budget allocation of Rs 12800 crores made in 2022-23 reduction from the budget. The cost norms for the food or the wages for the mid day meal workers which was last revised in 2009. The ASHA workers’ honorarium/incentives have also not been revised.

While the Indian economy is facing the demand constraint crisis and the Private sector Capex is not increasing the Govt Capex which was allocated in the previous budget is also not spent fully and in the current budget again Rs 10 lakh crores has been allocated which is lesser than the previous allocation mainly focusing on the infrastructure sector which is already put in the pipeline of notorious NMP.

The Economic Survey while painting a picture of slow-down and alarming increase in profit-wage growth disparity, prescribed most ridiculously total deregulation and withdrawal of States’ direct involvement/participation in economy management/activities—all aimed at ensuring “ease of doing business”. Accordingly the Budget statement atrociously announced further decriminalizing the 100 provisions of corporate offences through Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0. Previously the 2023 Act had already decriminalized 180 such provisions. By this, the government is essentially giving a free pass to corporations to flout and violate laws and regulations including their statutory obligations towards workers and the people with impunity. This move is a blatant assault on the rule of law and undermines the already fragile trust in institutions. It sends a disturbing message that corporate profits take precedence over public interest and that those in power are willing to bend over backwards to accommodate their corporate patrons.

Centre of Indian Trade unions (CITU) decries the Union Budget as a deceptive way of furthering loot and plunder without addressing the concerns and plight of working class of the Nation. CITU calls on the Workers and other sections of people to join Nationwide Protest action against this anti worker anti people anti national budget furthering the interests of neo liberal forces on 5th February 2025 across the nation in mass.