Joint Press Release | Budget Creates Dual India: One for Rich and One for Poor
The Union Budget 2023-24 has been a seamless attack on the poor people of the country especially the peasantry and the working class and petty producers. The social sector expenditure that is necessary to enhance income and employment for the producing classes and thus to ensure expanding purchasing capacity of the people has been slashed without any sense of the social reality. Under the 8 years rule of Narendra Modi, India’s position in the global poverty index has been declined from 55th rank to 107th Rank.
AIKS and AIAWU strongly protest the extensive reduction in allocation for MNREGA, food subsidy, fertilizer subsidy, insurance, irrigation, agriculture, labour and all other social sectors. The Prime Minister has nakedly betrayed his own promise of doubling the income of the farmers by 2023. The 81-crore people of India were denied of rice and wheat at subsidized rate of Rs 2 and Rs 3 respectively. There are no measures in the budget to ensure legally guaranteed MSP@C2+50% with assured procurement system and for comprehensive loan waiver for the poor and middle peasantry and agricultural workers. The demand to provide 200 work days under MNREGA with minimum wage of Rs 600/day has been rejected.
The neo-liberal policies have precipitated a looming recession in the capitalist countries world over. The IMF has observed that 2023 will witness further slowing down of the world economy. The Union Budget does not address the impact of the systemic crisis of the world capitalist system on the people of India and failed to take adequate measures to protect the Indian economy.
On the other hand, the rich sections were given tax exemptions and more avenues to make huge profiteering through privatization of the public assets and credit facility. The lion share of the credit for agriculture also is accrued by the agri-business. As per the Oxfam reports the top 10 % of the population has 74% of the wealth in India, however the Union Government is not ready to tax them saying the rate of taxation is already high in India which is untrue. As per the data available, the corporate tax and wealth tax in India are in the range of 15%-22% and 30% respectively. These tax rates in Italy are 23%-27% and 47%, in Japan 15%-29.74% and 55%, in Cuba 15%-30% and 50% and in China 0%-25% and 45% respectively. The BJP led Modi government is not willing to tax the rich and instead facilitate cruel process of pauperization and proletarianization of the peasantry by denying them minimum wage and minimum support price. Thus, the double engine government – as claimed by the Prime Minister is bent upon creating a double India – the India of rich corporate forces and the India of poor peasants and the workers. BJP policies stands for the development of the corporate forces not of the people.
The AIKS and AIAWU call up on the peasants and the agricultural workers across India to observe 9th February 2023 as Black Day to protest the cruelly anti- peasant, anti-worker Union Budget. The day will be observed by organizing burning the copies of the budget, effigy burning, demonstrations, Evening Dharna and public meetings etc.
With regards,
Hannan Mollah (Vice President, AIKS) B Venkat (General Secretary AIAWU), P Krishnaprasad (Finance Secretary AIKS), V Sivadasan, MP (RS), (Joint Secretary AIAWU)
