Budget promotes growth, employment: Bibek Debroy

NEW DELHI: Brushing aside criticism that Union Budget 2017-18 has done nothing to create jobs, Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy today said it aims to promote growth and encourage entrepreneurship which will lead to more employment opportunities.

"Of course there is problem of jobs. The Budget is not meant to do all this. The Budget is meant to ensure growth and the jobs happen when growth happens," Debroy told PTI when asked about the charge that the Budget has done nothing to generate employment.

"The Budget is meant to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship," he said.

He dismissed allegation of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi about the job creation, saying that his contention is based on Labour Bureau data which the Congress party had questioned earlier when it was in power.

"On the basis of 5th Labour Bureau reports, the Congress is saying not enough jobs are being created by the Modi government. When the first Labour Bureau report during the UPA came out with not very rosy figures, then the Congress led UPA government said we are not very comfortable with the Labour Bureaus numbers.

"Sampling size is not good, sample is not good, we (UPA government) believe in NSSO data. If you (UPA government) have criticised the Labour Bureau in the past then you can not cite the Labour Bureau data, or you should not logically cite the Labour Bureau data," Debroy said.

Slamming the Budget, Rahul Gandhi yesterday had said it lacked a clear vision and had nothing for farmers, youths and job creation.

"We were expecting fireworks, instead it was a damp squib. It is just 'sher-o shayari' in the budget. There is nothing for farmers and youth and nothing for job creation. There is no clear vision," Gandhi had said soon after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Budget.

On why there was no big bang economic reform initiated in the Budget, Debroy said the fact that there is no Big bang reforms should be appreciated rather than criticised because the lack of Big Bang reform means, there is certain continuity in the process.

"The Budget is only one day out of 365 days. Everything does not happen on the day of Budget. I can give you countless example from UPA times, when so called big bang announcements were made in the Budget speech and nothing happened," he noted.

"On the day of Budget speech day, all the Chambers would have given 9 out 10 but afterwards nothing happens. It is far better that the Budget does not have big bang reforms and actually delivers what it promises," Debroy added.

Talking about the idea of the Universal Basic Income, Debroy said that most of the conditions required for implementation of UBI are state government's subject.

"It is not a Union Government issue. It is there in the Economic Survey because it is meant for debate. It is not something which union government can implement unilaterally... Therefore it is only starting point for the debate," he said.

Invoking Mahatma Gandhi's vision of "wiping every tear from every eye", the Economic Survey for 2016-17 released on Tuesday had made a strong pitch for implementing UBI which stipulates a certain income for the poor.

"UBI is a powerful idea whose time, even if not ripe for implementation, is ripe for serious discussion," the Survey had said.

Noting that the Budget concentrated on public investment, particularly the transport sector, Debroy said that "it has not engaged in schemes that do not lead to the creation of productive assets".