Cong asks FM for aam aadmi Budget

The ruling party members were apparently reconciled to the idea of a hike in the prices of petroleum products. Arjun Sengupta was learnt to have urged the FM to go ahead with petro price hike immediately because 8220;if you don8217;t increase it now, you won8217;t be able to do it next year8221;. He also recommended dual pricing of diesel, according to Congress sources present in the meeting.

Referring to an increase in 8220;conspicuous consumption8221;, R K Dhawan recommended the imposition of a luxury tax. 8220;If I buy a piece of art for Rs 10 lakh, I should be taxed,8221; Dhawan was said to have argued. Vishwajit Singh later repeated the same demand.

Ruling party members suggested that those earning more than Rs 4 lakh per annum should not be given subsidy on LPG and they should rather buy it on commercial rate. Praveen Davar suggested that mid-day meal scheme should be expanded, as it was yet to reach a large percentage of children. He said that VAT should not be imposed in Army canteens, as is being done in Jammu 038; Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh.

Jyotiraditya Scindia stressed the need to focus on the interest of small and marginal farmers. Referring to AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi8217;s recent remark that not even five paisa of a rupee spent by Government reached the people, Alka Lamba was learnt to have said, 8220;If Rahulji is saying it, it is not a statement, it is a fact. You should do something to reverse it.8221;

A Congress MP demanded the scrapping of Special Economic Zones saying that Vinoba Bhave8217;s Bhudan movement was about taking the land from the rich and giving it to poor. 8220;We are taking the land from the poor and giving it to the rich,8221; commented the MP. The FM, however, responded that SEZ Act had been passed by Parliament.

There was also a suggestion to give 8220;performance incentive8221; to states for implementing the NREGS effectively and efficiently. A Congress MP suggested that NREGS be re-named as Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi scheme because non-Congress governments in the states were showcasing the scheme as their own. There was another suggestion to introduce aam admi housing loan to the tune of Rs 1 lakh.

The issue of price rise figured prominently during the discussion with ruling party members suggesting that until it was contained and reduced, no amount of schemes or works would impress the aam admi.

Yogendra Makwana demanded that budgetary allocations for SCs, STs and OBCs should be in proportionate to their population. Chidambaram, however, pointed out that those sections of the society were also benefiting from Government schemes and programmes.

A Youth Congress leader said the FM should come out with a 8220;youth-oriented8221; budget with several schemes for them. He demanded that sports infrastructure should be created in all districts of the country.

Meenakshi Natarajan said that Nehru Yuva Kendra should be extended to all districts. Rita Bahuguna demanded the setting up of an Urdu university in Uttar Pradesh. Another Congress leader demanded a university for minorities. There should be special schemes for Naxalite-affected districts, proposed ruling party members. There was another suggestion for gender budgeting and auditing.

The FM got accolades from party members for achieving 9 per cent GDP growth. Santosh Bagrodia, however, made a dissenting note: 8220;How have reforms benefited the poor? Farmers are still committing suicide.8221;