From two Paisa to 2%
If Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi raised rail fares by a mere two paisa per km, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also chose the magic figure of 2% to mop up Rs 40000 crores in his Budget. Whether it was Excise duty or service tax, Mukherjee stuck to the 2% figure.
Why the two ministers hit upon the figure of two, no one is sure. But the effect of two paisa and 2% will be cascading for Sonia Gandhi’s Aam Aadmi.
If service tax hike of 2% will hit the common man hard in day-today life, excise duty hike of 2% will make life more miserable later as manufacturing will go up across the board. House wife’s budget is set to go up in flames and even a marginal relief in Income-tax up to Rs 2 lakhs will be hardly of any consequence.
Price of petrol, diesel and Gas will be hiked separately by the oil companies through an executive order. May be, after consulting the allies before taking hard decisions as Pranab Mukherjee would not like to roll back. The Rail Minister’s roll back itself is a big shock to be absorbed.
Mamata has already signaled by saying that the Budget is “tolerable.”
As if this will not be enough, Mukherjee again brought out the figure of two when he said that subsidies will be restricted to 2% in the coming year. He wants to save at least Rs 20000 crores on subsidies.
Long live Sonia Gandhi’s Aam Aadmi.
