CHENNAI: At the 17th annual discussion of the Union budget held at VIT University (Chennai campus), Parliamentarians belonging to the opposition parties argued that the budget this year was prepared in view of upcoming elections.
Chartered accountant and ‘Thuglaq’ editor S Gurumurthy, who moderated the discussion, held that the budget is one with a long-term vision to benefit the Indian economy in the next 10 years.
The discussion, which saw participation from major parties, was presided over by founder and chancellor of VIT, G Viswanathan.
In his opening remarks, Gurumurthy objected to the hurried manner in which GST was implemented and criticised the centre’s policy on Non-Performing Assets (NPA) and delay in amending Fiscal Responsibility and
Budget Management Act.
In his presidential address, Viswanathan pointed out that the budget increased from Rs 21.4 lakh crore in 2017-2018 to Rs 24.42 lakh crore in 2018-2019 and that the increase was essential to increase the per capita income of Indians. Pointing out that countries like South Korea, Japan and China had grown rapidly since 1960, Viswanathan said, “India should continue to pursue a fast and higher economic growth, by 2035 the country’s GDP would be an estimated US $36 trillion. China’s contribution to the global exports is 11.4 per cent, while India’s contribution is just 2 per cent.”
Among the MPs who took part in the discussion were T K Rangarajan (CPI(M)), D Raja (CPI), T G Venkatesh Babu (AIADMK), T K S Elangovan (DMK). Other participants included state executive committee member (BJP) Narayanan Thirupathy and TNCC spokesperson Swarnah Sethuraman.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com