Budget 2023-24: Hoodwinking People to Ensure “Amrit Kaal” for Crony Capitalists
Amidst the rhetoric on “inclusive growth”and “infusion of new energy to India’s development trajectory”, in the guise of the announcement of a whole set of freebies addressed to the vast majority of working and oppressed in high-sounding words, Modi government’s 2023-24 budget is a repetition and further intensification of the far-right, pro-corporate agenda unraveled through the 2022-23 budget. It envisages an “Amrit Kaal” for the most corrupt crony capitalists like Adani who has been slipped from the position of world’s third richest to just that of 15 within a few days following the sudden bursting of his speculative empire.
For, through a 33 percent increase in capital investment outlay in the 2023-24 fiscal year, the budget estimates provide for the channeling of around Rs. 10 lakh crore into the coffers of corporate billionaires mainly through PPP projects. The Modi government, being a ‘corporate-facilitator’, has already entrusted the task of ‘development’ to corporate cronies. Since corporate capitalists are least interested in employment-oriented productive activities, as the operations of Adani-like corporates amply prove, effectively using the liberal tax, labor, and environmental regulations, this huge outlay will be channeled towards speculation, real estate, super-exploitation of labour and outright plunder of nature. While it will increase the concentration of wealth in corporate billionaires to horrific levels, the budget offers nothing for the 23 crore people who belong to the category of “extremely poor”.
For instance, take the case of the MNREGA allocation for fiscal year 2023-24 which is the lowest in last 4 years, i.e., 33 percent lower than that in 2022-23 or a decline from Rs. 89400 to Rs. 60000 crore. And compared to actual spending of Rs 98468 in 21-22, the reduction in outlay for 2023-24 comes to more than 60 percent! At a time when more than 95 percent of India’s workforce is to subsist on informal sectors and as the corporate-led development is yielding what is called “jobless growth”, India is now facing the biggest unemployment in 50 years. In relation to the requirement, therefore, the allocation for MNREGA now is a paltry sum. In fact even for providing 100 days’ work for the existing active job cards, minimal allocation of around Rs. 3 lakh crore is needed. Till now, only 10 percent of the active workers has been getting 100 days employment and in view of the steep decline in allocation now, the situation is going to be pathetic. In the same vein, the announcements in respect of agriculture and rural sectors are only of rhetorical value and not of any substance.
On the other hand, there is no dearth in fund allocation to defence which has gone up from to Rs 5.94 lakh crore for 2023-24 from last year’s allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore. Revealingly, a total of Rs 1.62 crore out of this allocation directly goes to arms MNCs in order to import new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware. While many exemptions on direct taxes are provided to appease the middle and elite sections, tax burden on the vast majority of common people continues without any let up on account of the streamlining of GST and other indirect taxes. Meanwhile, there is no alteration in India’s stature as the country having the lowest corporate tax rate in the world.
To be precise, the 2023-24 budget, while envisaging “Amrit Kaal” for corporate super-rich along with appeasement towards middle class sections, has completely let down the vast majority of the people including the working and oppressed. The entire reins of the economy are with corporate-crony capitalists who are in unholy nexus with the neofascist saffron regime which is prepared to go to any extent to bailout them in case of a crisis, as is evident from the recent Adani episode, even as the people are driven to perpetual poverty and destitution.
In this context, the CPI (ML) Red Star appeals to the workers, peasants and oppressed and all progressive- democratic forces to come forward resolutely exposing the true essence of the 2023-24 budget that serves the interests of Indian and foreign corporate capital and that imposes heavier burdens on the backs of the people.
P J James
General Secretary
CPI (ML) Red Star
New Delhi
February 1, 2023.
