Taking reforms to poor is key highlight of Fourth Liberal Budget

New Delhi, Nov 3 (UNI) Setting up of Special Agriculture Zones akin to the Special Economic Zones, opposition to the dilution of FRBM as being envisaged in the 11th Plan Approach Paper and adopting of a more inclusive approach towards the poor by taking reforms to them form the main proposals of the Fourth Liberal Budget (LB4) was unveiled by the Indian Liberal Group here today.

Releasing the Liberal Budget, Mr D N Patodia, a former Swatantra Party member of the Fourth Lok Sabha and an ILG member, described the LB4 as a structure of fiscal management to achieve maximum benefit for all.

The LB4 is a sequel to the three previous Liberal Budgets and is an annual exercise undertaken by the ILG parallel to the budget of the Union Government.

The LB4 insists that alleviation of poverty should assume centre-stage and rejects any compromise in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM), holding as "sacrsanct" the fiscal discipline envisaged in the FRBM legislation.

Like the Union Budget, the Liberal Budget sets out budgetary estimates based on the conventional pattern of the Central Budget documents.

The exercise is prompted by the Liberals' firm view that the business of the state is not business but governance.

According to ILG National Coordinator S V Raju, the main focus of a liberal budget are on health, education and providing a social safety net for those incapable of looking after themselves.

ILG members said during the discussions on the 4th Liberal Budget it was felt that a "growing convergence" of the Liberal and Union Budgets was being witnessed. However, when measured in terms of policies, programmes and in the larger issue of governance, the government budget fell well behind the expectations of the Liberal Budget.

The ILG charged that economic reforms were being diluted because of the constraints of coalition politics, particularly attacks from the Government's own Left Front allies. The latter have succeeded in impeding privatisation and disinvestment, stalled labour reforms and pushed through fiscally unsustainable social welfare programmes, Mr Raju stated.

Chiding critics for belittling India's achievement vis-a-vis China, the Liberals said the case was different as India was a real democracy and had been able to achieve 8.5 per cent growth despite many hurdles. "The present establishment deserves to be complimented even if the quality of governance leaves much to be desired," the members said.

Mr Patodia said the group's emphasis on the individual and not the state had been buttressed by recent post-economic reforms initiated in India which had led to individuals such as L N Mittal and Ratan Tata emerging as the world's first and fifth largest steel producers respectively, Sunil Mittal's Airtel Televentures Ltd growing to a Rs one lakh crore-empire which was still bigger than the combined might of BSNL and MTNL or Jet Airways which controlled more of the aviation space than the state-controlled Indian airlines.

Though not a political party, the ILG was founded in 1964 by the late Minoo Masani, former Parliamentarian, to promote the Liberal point of view on burning issues.

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