Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Mar 21, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Mar 21, 2006 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Agricultural Policy Industry & Economy - Economy No cut in fertiliser, food subsidies: Chidambaram Our Bureau
New Delhi , March 20 The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, today said that the Government is not proposing to cut fertiliser and food subsidies. Allaying apprehensions expressed by the members of the Rajya Sabha, Mr Chidambaram said that "let not anyone worry that subsidies will be curtailed. There is no attempt to curtail food and fertiliser subsidies, which are merit subsidies. Focus will be on non-merit subsidies." In a poor country like India such subsidies are necessary, he said while winding up the discussion on Appropriation Bill 2006 authorising payments from the Consolidated Fund of India. Mr Chidambaram also said that the Government is examining whether fertiliser subsidy could be reached to the farmers directly. He also pointed out that according to last year's economic survey, the cost of delivery of food subsidy was higher than the subsidy. "The cost of delivery of food subsidy should not be more than the subsidy itself," he said.
Tracking top spenders
The Finance Minister also informed the members that the tax authorities are aware of the identities of spenders with high income and will zero in on them to bring them into the tax net. Expressing his dissatisfaction over the fact that only 80,000 people had declared income of over Rs 10 lakh, Mr Chidambaram said: "I and every one of us know that there are 80,000 people in South Delhi alone. Even Chandigarh or Jalandhar have more people with such income who don't pay taxes. It is shocking. We will reach bulk of these people."
Directive to banks
He said banks have been asked to furnish the names of people undertaking high cash transactions and the Government had conducted a survey about the seven identified items and people who were dealing with such premium goods and each one was notified with a polite letter.
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