First Full Budget of Changers: Absence of Change in Presentation

March 24, 2012 Facebook posting

Trinamool scored over the Communists by huge margin in the presentation of theElection Manifesto in 2011. But the Budget Speech of Finance Minster hardly makes hardly any change in the Bengali presentation style.
Dr Amit Mitra presented the First Full-Fledged Budget of the New Government yesterday evening. The first change one had expected was in the archaic Model of presentation followed by his predecessor and so routine clerical work of his Finance Depoartment. The politicians may not be of high intellectual taste but these days they dabble in analysis of everything on earth. So, it was high time for a change in the analytical quality of the Budget Speech and associated documents. At least, the Financial Statement in the Fourth part of the speech hangs loose and needs to be replaced by a Budget at a glance that would give figures for three years in respect of major heads of recepits ; Tax Revenue State, Tax Share Transfer from Govt of India, Non-tax revenue internally raised, interest on loans given to others, Grants-in aid received from the Centre for revenue expenditure, Fresh loans and Debt raised, Grant -in aid received for capital expenditure from Central Govt., Net increase in Loans and Debts outstanding, average cost of outstanding debt and loans (%), Other capital Receipts, Revenue expenditure, of which revenue expenditure on Salaries, wages, pensions, interest expenditure, subsidies paid to public sector agencies, subsidies on food, education, health, etc directly given to citizens under various schemes, Capital expenditure on major heads, along with the difference between reevue expenditure and revenue receipts, capital expenditure and capital receipts, the revenue deficit percentage to State domestic product, the fiscal deficit percentage to SDP, the outstanding debt to SDP percentage.


Well everyone knows that many of these figures are difficult to project accurately: but the Fiinance Department personnel are paid to make efforts to increase their efficiency in making such estimates and in any case the past years figures should be available and easily estimated. The Budget at a Glance could be about 10 to 12 pages.

Such an upfront disclosure would not only be cosistent with proper governance but will reduce the wastage of time in unavoidable debates. Soon, the former Finance Minister will come out with analysis based on detailed budget document that would help raise question mark about the credibility of the Budget figures and put Mamata's Govt in bad light about further increase in debt level of the West Bwengal Govt.