RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat (Photo: PTI)
An increase in the income support program for farmers, PM Kisan Nidhi, the introduction of a ‘robot tax’ to finance the reskilling of people losing their jobs due to artificial intelligence (AI), and a reduced income tax (IT) to provide relief to the middle class – These are some of the items on the Budget wish list submitted by Sangh Parivar affiliates to Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman.
Representatives of the affiliated organisations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), such as the farmers’ organisation Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS); trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS); Laghu Udyog Bharati, which works for micro and small industries; and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which works on economic and policy issues, have been meeting the FM and other officials in the past few weeks as part of the pre-Budget talks.
Ashwani Mahajan of the SJM met the FM along with other economists on June 19. He appreciated the Centre’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, which has helped increase private investment, but stressed that it should now include micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). He said such a move would help create jobs. Mahajan, who is the national convener of the SJM, said the upcoming defence corridors should have space for MSMEs.
On the looming challenge of AI, Mahajan proposed introducing a ‘robot tax’, which could fund the retraining of those who lose their jobs or fund research into improving job-shifting technologies. His other suggestions were on ensuring a level playing field for domestic venture capital funds, and taking steps to reduce red tape for Indian startups that have turned around.
Representatives of the BMS met the FM along with those of the other 12 unions but submitted a separate memorandum. The Mazdoor Sangh proposed that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) be extended to 200 days a year. It was said that MNREGA should also include agricultural work and allied activities.
The BMS proposed reinstating the old pension scheme and demanded that the Centre take “quick steps” to fill all vacancies in the central government, which it said currently stand at nearly 2 million. The union said the Centre should create permanent posts for sanitation and sewerage workers in civic bodies and panchayats. It said sewerage workers who have worked as contract labourers for two decades should be given permanent jobs. The suggestion came in the wake of criticism of the government for reducing the number of government jobs available to Scheduled Castes. The BMS, whose national organising secretary B Surendran attended the meeting with the FM, demanded steps to create jobs through entrepreneurship development, setting up of the 8th Pay Commission and cutting IT to “help the middle class”.
The BKS demanded an increase in the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi, which was introduced in 2018-19, of Rs 6,000 to help farmers meet the challenge of rising input costs. The BKS said the Center should increase allocation for irrigation and for connecting rivers to compensate for climatic imbalances. It said the Center should stop providing ‘huge subsidies’ to ‘companies on behalf of farmers’ as not all farmers benefit from these subsidies as they use other sources to purchase fertilisers, implements and electricity. Such subsidies, the report said, should go directly to farmers. It says farmers should get tax benefit on agricultural implements as they are also producers or it should be tax free, said Kisan Sangh general secretary Mohini Mohan Mishra.
The Laghu Udyog Bharati proposed changes in the goods and services tax system and also presented an ‘eight-point plan for ‘grassroots-oriented economic development’ so that India can become a $ 10 trillion economy by 2030.’
First print: June 28, 2024 | 10:31 PM IST