One of the major propelling forces behind increase in output and employment could have been in terms of increase in budgetary provision for infrastructural facilities such as power and irrigation, and also for employment generation programmes. Unfortunately, contrary to the general observations of the Union Finance Minster, budgetary provision has actually fallen in each of these sectors. For instance, in the case of power, she Central budgetary provision has fallen from Rs. 30,082 crores in 1998-99 to Rs. 27,381 crores in 1999-2000; in irrigation, from Rs. 374 crores to Rs. 348 crores; in rural employment generation, from Rs. 8,182 crores to Rs. 7,843 crores, and in industrial sector as a whole, from Rs. 11,551 crores to Rs. 8,672 crores. In the social sectors, particularly in relation to education, despite the expectations raised by Prof.Amartya Sen's getting Nobel Prize in economics this year and his correct emphasis on the need of universalisation of primary education, this Union Budget has once again failed to rise upto the occasion and make a specific commitment to this target. Similarly, no political will has been expressed for comprehensively controlling the price rise of essential commodities.

Not only has the expenditure side of the budget failed to provide any direction towards solving the major problems of the common people, the major burden in the resource-raising side of the budget has also fallen the same common people. Of the total additional resource mobililsation of about Rs. 10,000 crores, Rs. 4,591 crores would be raised by additional duty on diesel and by a prebudget hike in administered prices of essential items amounting to Rs. 4000 crores, all adversely affecting the poorer and middle income groups. Unfortunately, no attempt has been made to unearth 'black money', which is estimated to accumulate by at least Rs. 1 lakh crores every year by evading Central taxes only. Even if a fraction of the 'black money' could have been unearthed, not only the other regressive forms of taxation would become unnecessary, but a more significant dent would be made in reducing the fiscal deficit.

Although this Union Budget has taken some credit in fiscal deficit reduction by taking the small savings-related loan outside the Central Budget, following a suggestion from this State, there is no proposal in this Budget to increase and restore the rate of interest on small-savings at the preexisting levels which all the States had correctly demanded. Moreover, there has been, in the current year, an actual fall in devolution of the States' share of Central taxes, and there is an apprehension of the same in the next year. This Union Budget is, unfortunately, therefore, both anti-people and anti-States.