The Hindu Business Line : A smug presentation

BETWEEN a forenoon tea and lunch-break on an otherwise normal day, the latest Budget exercise was over, leaving many wondering what transpired in the hallowed precincts of the Lok Sabha.

In the beginning, however, there were some tense moments, with the Opposition trying the `Rules' missiles one after the other, but in the end, when at 12:12 hours the Finance Minister rose to speak, he seemed to be in no hurry. Nor was he looking for glasses of water. For the lay, however, who need help to grapple with the Budget, here is some.

Revisited retold

There were the many who waited with bated breath for Jaswant to announce sops such as a raise in standard deduction and basic exemption limit.

But there was confusion after the FM spoke about "the salaried class, which doubtless has the best track record of tax compliance". No sops came from his speech, except a statement about "the conviction of the Government" that the issue of "revising the standard deduction for Income-Tax purposes be revisited."

He added: "We also need to revisit the present exemption limits and to realign them appropriately." What is this revisiting business? Just another way of saying, "Will see later."

Out of order

As usual, in some TV channels, audio went out of order during Budget presentation, and there is no fun watching only the video, especially when some members shout their lungs out even as cameras roll.

In the House, `out of order' is how the Speaker ruled the `points of order' brought in by the Opposition members. These related to whether it was proper to name the exercise `Interim Budget' rather than `Vote on Account' and whether the session was a new session or a continuation of the previous one. Ultimately, after the Speaker's ruling, it appeared that once again the Opposition did not do its homework properly.

One to seven

Budget is full of numbers, but you can visibly see one to seven in the FM's speech. For instance, moratorium for "Special Tea Term Loan" would be one year; also, a "Rural Technology Centre" would be set up in "one of the desert districts".

We have survived, during the last year, "two major destructive cyclones" and "two border stand-offs". There are three funds that Jaswant talks about: the Agricultural Infrastructure and Credit Fund, the Small and Medium Enterprise Fund, and the Industrial Infrastructure Fund.

To be operational shortly, these would "without compromising the norms of financial prudence, provide credit at highly competitive rates". Defence procurement process often extends to "over three years".

Again, on the three, exemption from long-term capital gains for listed equities would be extended for a further period of three years, "so as to provide stability".

The Vote-on-Account was aimed at enabling the Government "to discharge its responsibilities and to meet all essential expenditure during the first four months of 2004-05."

There would be "four global standard international convention centres, to be established through private-public partnership." Special Tea Term Loan would be "repayable in five years".

The `Pradhanmantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana' envisages "six new AIIMS like hospitals"; also, "one medical college each in six States" are to be upgraded to the level of AIIMS.

The last Budget extended service tax to "seven new services".

More importantly, "under the premiership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, this is the seventh successive budget of the Government of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)."

Gross national contentment

It was in an interview in November 2002 that the FM had spoken of his GNC dream: "I really wish I could transform and translate a growing GDP into a simultaneous growth of gross national contentment."

He had conceded, however, that there was "no scientific basis to this".

In his latest Budget speech, he has revisited this new measure. GNC is "so important, as the catalyst that motivates redoubled national endeavour" though "growth statistics are very important."

Why? Because GNC is an index that assists us "in designing distributive justice." It is his belief that "national contentment, national confidence, and our collective resolve for achieving even higher growth have now taken firm root."

You can't prove this with numbers; so better believe what he says.

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