Sonia's missive to PM on retail no solace- Left

New Delhi, Feb 8 (UNI) Cautioning the UPA against rubbishing the CMP as a mere piece of paper, the Left parties today asked the Manmohan Singh government to increase public investment in agriculture, education and health in Budget for 2007-08.

They also regretted that Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's missive to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on FDI in retail sector was also no solace as it had just favoured the" slowing down" of 100 per cent of FDI in the crucial sector which provided employment to over 40 million small traders.

The top leaders of the CPI, CPI(M) and Forward Bloc told UNI that the performance of the UPA government pertaining to budget allocation had been "dismal" as seen after passage of two Budgets.

CPI leaders A B Bardhan and Shamim Faizi said the government should not bypass the CMP and should ensure that the coming Budget include six per cent of GDP on education, 2-3 per cent of GDP on health, social security for 370 million unorganised workers and a legal guarantee of at least 100 days of employment per annum for at least one able-minded person in every rural and urban poor and middle class household.

On Ms Gandhi's letter on retail sector, the CPI leaders said" "What Ms Gandhi is now suggesting is that government should hasten slowly in allowing the 100 percent FDI in retail trade. That is no solace. One had expected the UPA chairperson to insist on adherence to the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP). But alas, for UPA the NCMP is just a piece of paper and promises made therein are to be forgotten,'' they said.

CPI(M) senior leader and Polit bureau member M K Pandhe said besides there are other comittments contained in the CMP which are mainly- remunerative prices to farmers, strengthening the Public Distribution System and moving towards universal food security.

It was expected that the UPA in its five-year tenure would fulfil all these commitments by increasing the fund allocation in every budget.

"Instead of leaking Ms Gandhi's letter to the press, Ms Gandhi could have asked the Prime Minister directly to understand the fact that if the Wal-Mart and other multi-national giants come to India in the retail sector, small traders would become jobless," Mr Pandhe said.

Forward Bloc National Secretary G Devrajan said every time the demand for more funds was raised, the Finance Minister complained about lack of resources." The fact is that, according to government's figures itself, total tax exemptions/concessions granted in the year 2004-05 stood at Rs.176073 crores out of which corporate tax exemptions alone accounted for Rs. 57852 crores." While the scheduled corporate tax rate is 33.66 per cent including the surcharge and the education cess, it has been recently reported that the effective tax rate for the corporate sector in 2005-06 has only been around 16.5-17 per cent due to the myriad tax breaks.

The Left leaders suggested withdrawal of such concessions, increase in Wealth Tax rate, reintroduction of the long term capital-gains tax, increasing the rate of Securities Transaction tax, no differentiation in tax rate between FII and local corporates and reverse the trend of cut in customs and import duty.

They also called for formulation of a sub-plan for the minorities on the lines of the Special Component Plan and the Tribal Sub-Plan, allocating 15 percent of total resources for employment generation, poverty alleviation and other development programmes for minorities, especially Muslims.

They demanded a special initiative to commence development activities under Plan programmes on education, health and housing in 100 districts with substantial Muslim population identified by Sachar Committee. In these welfare programmes, there should be a special focus on Muslim women.

The Left leaders said it should be ensured that 15 percent of priority sector lending by banks goes to Muslims.

They also called for introduction and adoption of Women's Reservation Bill in the Budget session itself.

UNI