8216;Stop Rs 2,25,000 cr worth tax sops8217;

Giving tax sops to corporates and the rich in India must stop as focus must be on the people,says Left.

Expressing disquiet over 8220;loot8221; of public money,CPI-M today demanded that concessions worth several lakhs of rupees to corporates and high-end taxpayers should be stopped,and used for narrowing the rich-poor gap.

Resuming the discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the Motion of thanks to the President for her address to Parliament,Sitaram Yechury said two Indias are in the making 8211; IPL India and BPL Below Poverty Line India.

Asking the government to shift policy directions,he said living conditions of the people have 8220;abysmally8221; deteriorated as multi-billion tax concessions worth Rs 2,25,000 crore have been been given to corporates and high-end tax payers.

8220;If these tax concession had been collected and invested in food security and health,we would have generated employment-demand and growth,8221; he said,adding that petrol prices have been revised seven times in the last eight months.

As much as Rs 2,22,000 crore is being collected as taxes from the petroleum sector.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s recent remark over comparison between sops to the telecom sector and the subsidy to the poor,Yechury said the 8220;argument is bogus.8221;

He wondered how incentives for big business houses were good but subsidy on food was detrimental for growth,as was being pointed out.

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Referring to the 2G telecom scam,he said,8221;You have chosen not to tax the corporates but the scam lies in the fact that the licenses were sold at least six times their value within six months.8221;

He said if the government had agreed for a Joint Parliamentary Committee earlier,the Winter session of Parliament could have been saved. He said the Opposition demanded JPC 8220;to examine how the system was so manipulated to allow such scams.8221;

While the UPA Government keeps talking about inclusive growth,it was 8220;doing exactly the opposite8221; by allowing inflation to increase by encouraging policies like futures and 8220;speculative8221; trading of essential commodities.

On the argument from the Congress benches that the Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss pointed out by the CAG should be treated 8220;notional8221;,Yechury said it was because the government chose not to collect the spectrum and licensing charges at fair market rates.

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This money,being described as notional loss,could have been adequate to finance 35 kg subsidised foodgrain to over 80 per cent of the total households.

Alternatively,this could have funded schemes like right to education and healthcare for all,he said.