Budget a cruel joke on working class: BMS?

Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the largest labour organisation of the country, described the general budged presented on March 16, as a cruel joke with the workers and common men of the country. In a statement issued in New Delhi the same day, BMS general secretary Shri Baijnath Rai said that 10 per cent service tax, almost on all services, was already a big burden on the people. Now increasing it to 12 per cent proves that the government has lost the sensitivity to the countrymen. Shri Rai added that Finance Minister did not take any cognizance of the pre-budget talks he had with the trade unions on February 28, rather he has decreased the interest rate on EPF. Shri Rai feared that such attitude of the UPA government towards the common man and the workers might affect the attempts to maintain industrial peace.         (FOC)?