Press Note Eng Dt: 09/03/2011 on Budget
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OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF OPPOSITION
Gujarat Vidhansabha, Gandhinagar.
Press Note 09th March, 2011
- Gujarat budget is to widen gap between poor and rich and it would cause imbalanced development.
- Budget has no relief, only tax burden of Rs 524 crore.
- He recited Urdu couplets to describe the state of sycophants praising Chief Minister
If you will indulge in servility, it will cause pain in the heart
You will fall in disgrace in your own eyes
You will gain, losing everything
Even your shadow will be afflicted by your sycophancy
- Land lottery to businessmen, but tribal remain landless
- To save skin in the Supreme Court, showered favours to UK based company Eros and people pay green cess of Rs 244 crore
- Continued neglect of villages. In the budget of 2008-09, as much as Rs 11,000 lakh remained unspent.
- In the case of social organization Rs 65,000 lakh remained unspent in the 2008-09 budget.
- People of SC ST category should have got money on the basis of their population. But they have been provided Rs 1,000 crore less.
- Diesel in Gujarat is costlier by Rs1.70 a litre as compared to Rajasthan and Maharashtra because the tax rate in Gujarat is highest.
- Gujarat has maximum electricity duty in the country.
- Gujarat does not have good coaches nor did quality infrastructure, still Chief Minister squandered crore on sports festival.
- There should be an atmospheres reflecting the spirit that world will play, but Gujarat will win.
- Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation has awarded the work of setting up of platform in sea to L&T at a cost Rs 217 crore higher.
- Law and order in Gujarat has come to such a situation that here one is safe and secure while all others are unsafe and insecure.
- A book written by Chief Minister has very insulting remark about Valmiki samaj and it has been brought out by the money of GSPC.
Leader of opposition in the State Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil today said that the state government’s budget was unbalanced and will increase the gap between rich and poor. This budget will create a situation where a handful of industrialists will become richer and the common man will be ignored. There is no relief in the budget.
Participating in the discussion on the budget Gohil said that the government has levied a burden of Rs.524 crore on the people of the state. Chankaya’s theories say recover big taxes from the big people and provide facilities to the poor and small people. But in Gujarat companies like Essar grabs forest land without any right and the tribals are not given their rightful forest land. Red carpet is laid for London based company Eros while bulldozer is rolled over huts of poor. To provide benefits to Eros a new tax in the name of green cess worth Rs. 224 crore has been imposed on people. How far is it reasonable? Gohil asked.
Honourable Mahatma Gandhi had said that India lives in villages. The Gujarat government with its recent love for Gandhiji is ignoring villages. Out of the funds allocated for rural development in 2007-08 Rs.3, 225 lakh have not been spent. In 2008-09 more than Rs.11,000 lakh of rural development department remained unused. While in 2009-10 more than Rs.25,000 lakh were not spent
Gohil said that each of us should care about tribals and dalits. In social service sector out of the total allocation in 2008-09 Rs.65,000 lakh and in 2009-10 Rs.60,000 lakh crore remained unspent. It would be ok if we do not talk about long runways in the social service sector but we have to worry about small causeways in villages. In the budget Rs.2,030 crore has been allotted for tribal development which is 5.46 %. According to Planning Commission allotment for scheduled caste and tribes should be according to their population. The population of SC is 14% and that of SC is 7 %. Accordingly the allotment for SC should be Rs.2,600 crore which is Rs.580 crore less while for ST Rs. 5,201 crore should have been given but Rs.4,848 crore have been allocated. Whether it is SC, ST or minority all are Indian and efforts should be made to keep them together with all. During the current budget the government has said that it will take a debt of Rs. 21,125,87 crore. Despite this the staff is not paid salaries regularly and the pensioners are not given pension and their dues on time.
The state government has increased VAT rates on the ground that they were higher in other states but on the other hand it has not decreased the rates which are less in other states. The government levied 3% cess on petrol and 2% on diesel when octroi was abolished. At present the VAT on petrol in Gujarat is 23 % and that on diesel is 21%. The diesel price in neighbouring Rajasthan and Maharasthra is 70 paisa and Re.1 less than Gujarat.
Shaktisinh Gohil said that in the year 2007-2008, Gujarat levied electricity duty at the rate of 9.5 percent which is the highest in the country. He quoted from the study of RBI which compared the electricity duty of 14 states of almost equal parameters. The study found that while other states had duty ranging from 0.5 percent to four percent Gujarat had the highest 9.5 percent. Even in the case of residential connections, he said, Gujarat had duty of 20 percent while in other states it was much low. Gujarat Electricity Commission has also pointed out this and suggested that it should be reduced.
Stressing the need for better infrastructure for developing sports in Gujarat, he ridiculed the campaign of Khel Mahakumb organized by Gujarat government. The punchline of the Khel Mahakumb said that Gujarat will play and Gujarat will win. It is obvious that when only Gujarat plays then only Gujarat will win. It should have been World will play and Gujarat will win, Gohil said.
The leader of Opposition charged that Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation had awarded the work of setting up of platform in sea to L&T at a cost Rs 217 crore higher . Referring to the announcement of bringing KG Basin gas to Gujarat in 2011, he said that now GSPC says that it would come here in 2013. People were promised the time when farmers would sell oil and not milk, Gohil said.
Refuting the allegations that centre was providing gas to Reliance and Essar and not to Gujarat, Gohil gave the figures that the fertilizer sector was getting 3.75 MMSCMD while power sector 8.14 MMSCMD. This is as per the policy framed during NDA rule and there is no change in it.
Criticizing the law and order situation in Gujarat, he said that here one was safe and secure while all others are unsafe and insecure. To save big fishes small people are arrested by police, he said. They live in prison while dons live in palaces.
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