Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's critique of the Union Budget - 2024 | Full Speech
Summary
TLDRThe speaker addresses the Finance Minister, urging the government to adopt ideas from the Congress Manifesto for job creation and tackling unemployment, expressing skepticism about the effectiveness of the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme. They highlight the seriousness of inflation, criticizing the government's dismissal of the issue and questioning the RBI's stance on it. The speaker also emphasizes the need for relief for the bottom 50% of the population, the importance of addressing daily laborers' conditions, and criticizes the government's approach to federalism. They conclude with five demands, including a minimum wage, legal MSP, and the abolition of the Agnipath scheme.
Takeaways
- 📜 The speaker commends the Finance Minister for incorporating employment-linked incentive schemes and other ideas from the Congress Manifesto in her speech.
- 📚 The speaker encourages members of the treasury benches to read the Congress Manifesto for potential policy inspiration, humorously stating that copying is encouraged in the house.
- 🔍 The speaker expresses concern over the lack of clarity in the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme, questioning its effectiveness and the discrepancy in the number of industries targeted.
- 📉 The speaker highlights the issue of unemployment, citing high application numbers for few job vacancies as evidence of the severity of the problem.
- 💼 The speaker criticizes the RBI's statement that there is no jobs crisis in India, arguing that it contradicts the evident high demand for employment opportunities.
- 📈 The speaker discusses the issue of inflation, pointing out the difference between official statistics and the actual experienced rates in rural and less accessible areas.
- 💔 The speaker emphasizes that inflation is a serious issue affecting every family and criticizes the Finance Minister for dismissing it in a mere 10 words.
- 🤔 The speaker questions the government's economic growth figures, challenging the methodology used to calculate the GDP and the adoption of certain deflators.
- 💰 The speaker raises the issue of wages, pointing out that the majority of taxpayers have zero tax liability and questioning the relief provided to the bottom 50% of the population.
- 🏛 The speaker addresses the issue of federalism, criticizing the central government for selectively providing relief to certain states and undermining the autonomy of state governments.
- 📣 The speaker concludes with five demands, urging the Finance Minister to adopt these policies from the Congress Manifesto, and insists on receiving a response to these demands.
Q & A
What is the Employment Linked Incentive Scheme mentioned in the speech?
-The Employment Linked Incentive Scheme is a policy initiative aimed at creating jobs, although the specific details and outcomes of this scheme are not clearly outlined in the script.
Why does the speaker urge the Finance Minister to read the Congress Manifesto?
-The speaker believes that the Congress Manifesto contains good ideas, particularly on pages 11, 30, and 31, and hopes that adopting these ideas will lead to more effective policies.
What is the speaker's view on copying ideas from the Congress Manifesto?
-The speaker encourages the idea of copying, stating that it is not prohibited and is even rewarded in the house, suggesting that borrowing good ideas can lead to better policies.
What is the estimated all India unemployment rate mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions an estimated all India unemployment rate of 9.92% for June 2024, as per the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy.
What is the Production Linked Incentive scheme referred to in the script?
-The Production Linked Incentive scheme is a previous initiative aimed at boosting production, but the speaker suggests it did not create the desired number of jobs, leading to the introduction of the Employment Linked Incentive scheme.
What is the speaker's opinion on the outcome of the Production Linked Incentive scheme?
-The speaker is critical and suggests that the scheme did not meet its job creation goals, prompting the need for a new employment-linked incentive.
What is the significance of the figures mentioned regarding job applications and vacancies in various sectors?
-The figures highlight the magnitude of unemployment in India, showing a stark contrast between the number of job vacancies and the large number of applicants for those positions.
What does the speaker imply about the RBI's statement on the jobs crisis in India?
-The speaker criticizes the RBI's statement that there is no jobs crisis in India, implying that it is out of touch with the reality of high unemployment rates and the struggles faced by job seekers.
What are the speaker's views on the issue of inflation as discussed in the script?
-The speaker is critical of the Finance Minister's dismissal of inflation as a trivial subject, arguing that it significantly impacts families and the economy, and that the government should take it more seriously.
What is the speaker's stance on the government's approach to federalism?
-The speaker criticizes the government for perceived favoritism towards certain states, suggesting that this undermines the principles of federalism and equal treatment of all states.
What are the five demands made by the speaker in the script?
-The five demands are: 1) A minimum wage of 400 rupees per day for all employment, 2) A legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers, 3) Write-off of unpaid interest or installments of educational loans up to March 2024, 4) Abolition of the Agnipath scheme, and 5) Scrapping of the Meat Act, with exceptions for states that wish to keep it.
Outlines
📜 Manifesto Inspiration and Employment Concerns
The speaker begins by expressing gratitude to the Finance Minister for her initiatives and encourages the treasury benches to consider ideas from the Congress Manifesto, particularly those related to employment. The speaker highlights the unemployment rate as a significant issue, referencing the center for monitoring the Indian economy's estimations and the need for a more effective employment-linked incentive scheme. The speaker also criticizes the lack of clarity and confidence in the proposed scheme, suggesting it may not meet its ambitious targets.
📊 Unemployment and Inflation: A Growing Concern
The speaker discusses various instances of high demand for limited job vacancies, indicating a severe unemployment problem in India. They also address the issue of inflation, criticizing the Finance Minister for dismissing it too casually. The speaker emphasizes the discrepancy between official inflation rates and the actual experienced rates in rural areas, and questions the RBI's stance on the absence of a jobs crisis, suggesting a disconnect between government reports and the lived reality of the people.
💼 Economic Growth and Wages: Questioning the Statistics
The speaker questions the government's reported economic growth rates, challenging the methodology used to calculate real GDP growth. They express skepticism about the deflator used for different sectors and its impact on the reported growth figures. The speaker also raises concerns about wage levels, particularly for the bottom 50% of the population, and the government's apparent lack of attention to the struggles of daily laborers and those in irregular employment.
🏛️ Federalism and State Inequality
The speaker criticizes the central government's approach to federalism, citing instances of funds being withheld from certain states and the perceived political bias in the treatment of state governments. They argue that the union government should not selectively favor or neglect states based on political affiliations and that this undermines the principles of federalism.
📚 Education and Poverty Alleviation: Unmet Needs
The speaker discusses the issue of unpaid educational loans and the need for their write-off, as well as the broader issue of poverty in India. They challenge the government's claim of having virtually abolished poverty, pointing to the high ranking in the world hunger index and the government's own actions to provide free food grain to a large portion of the population as evidence of ongoing struggles with poverty and hunger.
🗣️ Five Demands for the Finance Minister
In conclusion, the speaker presents five demands for the Finance Minister to consider, which include a minimum wage for all employment, a legally guaranteed minimum support price for agricultural products, a write-off of unpaid educational loans, the abolition of the Agnipath scheme, and the scrapping of the Meat Act. The speaker insists on a response to these demands and asserts that they will resonate throughout the country.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Employment Linked Incentive Scheme
💡Unemployment Rate
💡Inflation
💡Growth Rate
💡Deflator
💡Wages
💡Federalism
💡Manifesto
💡Agnipath Scheme
💡Legally Guaranteed MSP
💡Educational Loans
Highlights
The speaker urges the Finance Minister to take ideas from the Congress Manifesto, stating copying is encouraged and rewarded in the house.
Unemployment is identified as the biggest challenge, with the all India unemployment rate estimated at 9.9% in June 2024.
The Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme is questioned for its effectiveness in job creation compared to the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
The speaker expresses lack of confidence in the ELI scheme's ability to employ 29.20 lakh people, likening it to unfulfilled election promises.
Examples of high competition for low-skilled jobs illustrate the magnitude of the unemployment problem in India.
The speaker criticizes the RBI's statement claiming no jobs crisis in India, arguing it contradicts the ground reality.
Inflation is highlighted as a serious issue, with the speaker pointing out the disparity between official rates and actual experienced rates.
The Finance Minister's dismissal of inflation as a trivial subject in just 10 words is criticized.
The speaker questions the RBI's 6.5% bank rate, suggesting it does not align with the stated inflation target.
Growth rate calculations are challenged, questioning the use of deflators and their impact on reported GDP growth.
The speaker emphasizes that the reported growth rates are not felt by the people, citing personal observations from extensive travel.
Wages and relief measures are scrutinized, with the speaker arguing that the benefits do not reach the majority of the population.
The condition of daily laborers and the irregularity of jobs are highlighted as serious concerns.
India's ranking in the World Hunger Index is mentioned to underscore the need for better food affordability and accessibility.
Federalism is discussed as a critical issue, with examples of central government interference in state matters.
The speaker criticizes the selective treatment of states, arguing it undermines the principles of a federal country.
The omission of certain states from the Finance Minister's speech is pointed out as a sign of neglect.
Five demands are put forth by the speaker for the Finance Minister to address, including minimum wage, MSP, loan waivers, and the abolition of certain schemes.
Transcripts
[Applause]
[Music]
Mr
chairman I want to thank the honorable
Finance Minister one please hear him
patiently for the employment linked
incentive
scheme and other
ideas Incorporated in the early part of
her
speech I'm particularly
happy that she had an opportunity to
read the Congress Manifesto
yes and she picks the good ideas on page
11 page 30 and Page
31 I would respectfully urge my
honorable friends in the treasury
benches
to read the Congress Manifesto so that
in your party especially the external
affairs minister in your party meetings
you can persuade The Honorable prime
minister and The Honorable finance
minister to take some more ideas from
our Manifesto we'll be very very
happy uh to support you if you take
those ideas
copying is not prohibited in this
house in fact copying is encouraged
copying is rewarded in this one second
one second if you'll address the chair
it will give a soothing feeling to me
also and that will be more appropriate
mrra copying is encouraged and copying
is rewarded in this house so please copy
a little
more sir I have four major themes and I
think I should be able to complete my
submissions on each theme in about four
or five minutes the first is
jobs unemployment is the biggest
challenge the center for monitoring
Indian economy has
estimated all India unemployment rate in
June
20
24 as
99.2% it may have come
down
now earlier there was a production
linked
incentive when you introduce the
employment linked incentive it must be
for some
reason and I suspect the reason was that
the production linked incentive scheme
did not create the kind of jobs that you
wanted to
create so will The Honorable Finance
Minister tell this house what is the
outcome of the
P once we know the outcome of the
P we can look ahead to what can be
expected of the
Eli in fact from
paragraphs
2021 and 22
read with paragraph 51 of her
speech neither I nor any of my learned
colleagues are able to get a whole
picture of the
Eli it seems to us that paragraph 20
talks about the same Target Industries
like paragraph 21 and paragraph 21 talks
about the same Target Industries as
paragraph 22 but in paragraph 51 we
sudden ly let down when you said only
500 Industries are
selected the numbers don't gel the
numbers don't match anyway you have a
Eli it's an interesting idea but it does
not Inspire confidence and let me go on
record to say it does not Inspire
confidence that you will be able to
place 29 20 lakh people under the Eli
that you have
described it should not turn out to be
another election jumla like your two CR
jobs in
[Music]
yes now look at
the magnitude of the unemployment
problem utar Pradesh Police Department
conducted an examination for
6,244 vacancies
48 lakh persons applied and wrote that
examination it was cancelled a couple of
days
later Air India wanted to fill
2,216 vacancies of handyman to do
diverse jobs like repair and maintenance
25,000 people thronged Mumbai airport
for a Walkin interview and the police
had been called to restore law or
not a private company in Gujarat sought
to fill five positions 1,000 persons
barged into that
company Madia Pradesh advertise
155 low skilled government jobs
11,000 applications were received among
them were postgraduates engineers
mbas and I'm sad to say
even one of them who had just written an
examination to be a judge in the m in
the madhya Pradesh
I the best illustration is by the staff
selection commission there are staff
selection commissions of the center and
the
states utar Pradesh conducted an
examination for 7,500 posts 24 lakh
7430 people applied for those job jobs
and yet the RBI about 2 3 weeks ago said
there is no jobs crisis in
India exact words no jobs crisis in
India why didn't anyone from the
minister or any officer stand up and say
we reject this statement RBI is supposed
to be cautious conservative and
neutral but you're cautious you're
conservative and you're not neutral at
all
yes I suggest sir that unemployment be
taken seriously and we will wait for the
outcome of your Eli scheme it is an
interesting scheme at the moment I'm not
impressed I'm not convinced the outcome
alone will judge whether your intentions
are good whether you really want to
tackle
unemployment sir the second broad
subject is inflation
The Honorable Finance Minister in
paragraph three of her speech dismissed
the subject in 10
words and I'm not exaggerating please go
through the speech exactly 10
words is inflation such a trivial
subject you can deal with it casually
and dismiss it in 10
words WPI infl
is
3.4% CPI inflation is
5.1% food inflation is
99.4% Shame Shame this is data collected
where you can collect data mostly along
towns and Villages AB butting the
national highway at best the state
highway at best District highway but go
into the hinterland of India
do go into the kbk districts of odisha
go into the Interiors of darapuri or
ramapura the inflation is much higher
than
your 3.4% or 5.1% or
99.4%
and the chief economic
advisor who may be cautious conservative
he has a degree of autonomy which no
other officer of the government of India
has he said in his economic survey quote
India's
inflation continues to be low stable and
moving towards the 4%
Target it's been moving for the last 4
years when will it arrive at a 4% Target
is inflation
low is it
stable is it moving towards the 4%
Target if it is moving towards the 4%
Target why has the RBI not revised
downward the bank rate fixed in June
2023 yes this is the 13th month of a
6.5% bank rate bank rate is the good
measure of where inflation is moving if
inflation is moving towards the
4% Target 4% is the target is actually
two plus or 4 plus or minus 2 it's not
4% assuming that 4% is the target why is
the RBI keeping the bank rate at 6.5%
for the last 13 months why is the MPC
the monetary policy committee not
willing to revise it
downwards and I think what the chief
economic advisor said in his economic
survey is
injury and The Honorable Finance
Minister dismissing the subject in 10
words is adding insult to
injury
inflation is a humiliating situation
because every family is hit by inflation
I warn this
government you are taking
inflation not so
seriously the last set of byelections
punished you you will not agree but I
think the last set of byelections where
out of 13 seats 10 seats were won by the
India block is a punishment a warning
administered to you and if you don't
take inflation seriously you will be
punished more if you want to suffer the
punishment you're welcome to suffer the
punishment and in this
situation you claim that the growth was
last year
88.2% and this year it will be 6.5% to
7% I'm not going into the macroeconomic
analysis
some of my colleagues will do that I ask
you how do you arrive at this growth
rate you take the nominal growth rate
and apply a deflator and arrive at the
GDP
sir the house and you must know that the
deflator that they have adopted for the
manufacturing sector for last year is
1.7 when wholesale inflation is 3.4
when CPI inflation is
5.1 food inflation is 9.4 how do you
adopt a deflator of
1.7 in fact I want The Honorable finance
minister to tell us what is the deflator
you have adopted for manufacturing
industry what is the deflator you have
Manu you have adopted for industry and
uh for for agriculture and what is the
deflator you've adopted for services
nominal growth growth is measurable but
your GDP in real terms is simply by
appointing by adopting a deflator and if
you adopt a
deflator which several
knowledgeable economists and experts
throughout the world have severely
criticized for the last three or four
years you will arrive at these Rosy this
Rosy
picture you were adopted deflator less
than
1.7 you would not have have arrived at
8.2 you would have arrived at
9.2 you you you adopt a deflator of .5
you you you will even cross 10% so
please tell us what is the deflators
you're adopting why are you adopting and
what tell us what is the nominal growth
rate and how do you arrive at these
growth rates these growth rates are not
cannot be seen but these growth rates
can be felt by the people please uh uh
anyone U moving around the people will
know the growth rate can be felt by the
people when there is uh impressive
growth when there is more goods and
services when prices are affordable when
there is money uh floating around in the
market when your pockets are jingling
with coins or currency nodes you get the
you get the feeling that things are
going all right in this country do you
get the feeling I travel I travel at
least 500,000 Kil kilometers every month
by road I don't get that feeling does
any honorable member from his
constituents your state get the feeling
that the people tell him things are very
good things are very good please go and
tell the prime minister in Delhi things
are very good you're very
happy does any anyone get that feeling
no
sir the third subject is
Wages now this is a serious
matter The Honorable Finance Minister
said I have given relief who is she
given relief to I don't Grudge the
relief she has given relief but
who in
2223 the last I was able to access the
number of
taxpayers is 7.4
CR it may have increased to8 or 8 and 8
and half
CR out of
that 65% have zero tax
liability they file a return but no
tax assuming that the
60% remains
constant of say 8 CR or 9 CR taxpayers
today 5 and a half to 6 CR will be zero
tax
liability you have given relief to
people who move to the new tax
regime the new tax regime I've seen
various calculations each paper has got
a calculation I have a chartered
accountant who's given me a calculation
from Gujarat and he is very
knowledgeable he said says that the
relief given is
between
9,651 Rupees to
17,50 rupes to whom to this 2 to three
CR
people India is does not consist only of
these 2 to three CR people there are 142
CR in this country out of 142 CR let's
assume you have given relief to 2 to
three CR people what about the rest do
you know the conditions of the rest your
household consumption expenditure survey
of the government of
India counted that the bottom
50% the the bottom
50% have 3% of the national wealth 133%
of the national
income
and the monthly
consumption monthly consumption in rural
areas of the family is
3,094 rupees multiplied by 12 you will
arrive at about 37,000 rupes a
year in urban areas it's
4,963 rupees multiplied by 12 you get
60,000 Rupees so we have 50% of the
population monthly consumption
expenditure
50% is 71 CR have a monthly consumption
expenditure of
between 36,000 Rupees to 50,000 Rupees
are they rich or poor this is the bottom
50 below the medium you go down to the
bottom 20 go down to the bottom 10 they
are even
poorter what is the relief for them
and the Niti
AOG Chief uh Chief uh Executive Officer
says India's virtually abolish poverty
poverty cannot be more than
5% poverty cannot be more than 5% when
you're talking about 71 CR people 71 CR
people thankfully is not 5% then India's
population will be 1,400
CR India's population is 14 2 CR 1/2 is
71 they are below the 1 71 CR they are
below the median and this is the median
income sir I asked the honorable Finance
Minister what is the relief given to
them do you know
that most of them are daily labor 30 CR
daily labor in this
country the others are irregular reg
jobs the regular jobs regular jobs are
only for about 17 to 25% of this country
all the rest are in irregular jobs or in
Daily labor what is the relief given to
them in the world hunger index of 125
countries we are
111 you may not accept the world hunger
index but the action that the government
has taken namely giving free food grain
to 81 CR people is a tcid admission that
on the hunger index we have very very
low forget the hunger index 81 CR people
your own action shows that people cannot
afford
food
so my last subject is
federalism what do we see around this
country
all India service
officers
defy the directions and
Orders of the Council of Ministers of an
elected government in
Delhi funds are withheld from Kerala and
West Bengal on one pretext or
other borrowing limits borrowing limits
of non-bjp States governments have been
slashed
Sam Nadu has been denied disaster relief
assistance I ask why does the
upsc have to play a role in the
appointment of the DGP of the
state why should a state government not
appoint the vice Chancellor of state
[Music]
universities and how did this government
treat Andra Pradesh
and
bear and odisha before
April the same demand is there the same
Andra Pradesh reorganization Act is
there it was there the chief minister
was a different person the same act for
10 years how did you treat them how for
for 10 years how did you treat
bear when a leader wears one cap you
treat him one way when he changes that
cap and he wears another cap you treat
him another
way I have no I don't Grudge at all
you're giving relief to Andra Pradesh or
Bihar but what
about the other states we are a federal
country this is the death Nell of
federalism if you pick and choose among
states
you are the union of India you are the
union government you are the government
of all the states you cannot pick and
choose one state and deny relief to
another
[Music]
state sir
finally I thought the honorable Finance
Minister loved TR I missed uh her quotes
from either Tru or any other classic
literature
uh maybe she didn't have time to quote
from a classic poet in Telugu or in
bojpuri uh maybe she will in course of
time I want her to remember that she was
born in
madur she had a schooling in
vuram and she had a college in
Tali and it is very painful as the chief
minister of Tamil Nadu pointed out that
not in one place in Her 60-page speech
did she mention the word Tamil Nadu or
Tamil I'm not saying mention only Tamil
Nadu mention all states of mention all
the states grouped together how many
times have you mentioned Bihar how many
times have you mentioned Andra
Pradesh I have no grudge but please
remember that there are other states in
India other states of people other
States elect
other States elect other governments
they vote against you please remember
that finally sir I have one minute I
have five
demands five demands which I would urge
The Honorable finance minister to copy
from our
Manifesto I demand this and I want
answers respectfully I ask the honorable
minister to give us answers if you don't
answer this today or in the course of
the session or subsequently it is not as
though these demands will die down they
will Echo everywhere in India where the
India block has a right to speak and
right first
demand we demand that a minimum wage of
400 rupees per day for every kind of
employment two we demand a legally
guaranteed
MSP three we demand a write off of the
unpaid balance of Interest or
installment of educational loans given
up to March
2024 four we demand the abolition
complete abolition of the agnipath AG
scheme and five we demand that meat be
scrapped and if you if some states want
to keep meat except all other states
which don't want meat these five demands
will Echo not only in this chamber it
will Echo throughout the country until
you conceive these demands I demand that
The Honorable Finance Minister reply to
my demand that he should reply to this
issu thank you very good
[Music]
関連動画をさらに表示
Raghav Chadha Attacks Govt Over Taxes, Changes In Long Term Capital Gains Tax
وظائف مكسبها 100 ألف دولار في الشهر.. الرئيس السيسي يوجه رسالة على الهواء لأولياء الأمور
Indonesia Terancam Resesi karena Judi dan Bansos adalah Solusi yang Buruk!
KEMISKINAN DAN PENGANGGURAN INDONESIA | SRI MULYADI MENTERI KEUANGAN
Dear PM Narendra Modi
What Happened in Pakistan’s Parliament? | Crackdown on Imran Khan’s Party | Syed Muzammil Official
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)