FOC
Hasubhai Dave |
Alleging that there is nothing for workers in the budget, Hasubhai Dave, president of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), has strongly opposed the budget proposal of inviting 43 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in civil aviation and LIC and 74 per cent in the telecom sector by paving the way for its privatisation. ?So far as the formation of Investment Committee is concerned, the BMS had favoured formation of such a commission giving equal representation to workers representatives but this has not been spelt out in the budget speech by the Finance Minister,? Shri Dave said, adding that by not announcing the formation of the Sixth Pay Commission, the government has disappointed nearly 41 lakh Central government employees.
He also criticised the increase in service tax from 8 to 10 per cent and also bringing more professionals under service tax. He said that the increase in production surcharge on manufacturing of matchboxes was very strange as it damages prospects of the self-employed poor people. Contrary to the government'smuch publicised views on employment generation, Shri Dave said no scheme or policy showing convincingly the avenues for employment generation had been announced. ?Mere attractive words and promises cannot satisfy the jobless people,? he said, adding that allowing import of yarn for the textile industries would harm weavers of the handloom and powerloom sector. He said the present budget was not different to the previous budget presented by the NDA government.
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