Budget 2023-24: Tax the rich, build infrastructure, generate jobs, says Sitaram Yechury

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury hit out at the Centre over the Budget presented on Wednesday, demanding the super-rich be taxed and the youth be provided jobs on the back of investments in infrastructure. In a video interview with PTI, Yechury alleged the budget has failed to address inflation, unemployment, price rise and slow down.

The focus of the budget should have been to increase the purchasing power of the public and thereby generate domestic demand, he said.

"That could have been done if you were willing to tax the rich and particularly the rich who made windfall profit. Around 14.5 per cent of the wealth generated in the last two years was cornered by one per cent of Indian people, which is the richest. Tax them," Yechury said.


He said that "instead of giving concessions to the rich", the government should have invested in infrastructure and generated crores of new jobs for the youths who would spend.

"Instead gave more concessions to the rich and even reduced the highest tax bracket. The finance minister herself announced that these tax concessions amount to losses of Rs 35,000 crore in terms of revenue collections for the coming year. So this way the economy is contracting.

"It is good that some relief has been given to the salaried class, but in a state of inflation and decline in allocation for social services, every family and every individual has to spend more. So whatever relief in terms of tax is received is more than offset by the rise in prices and reduction in expenditure in public services, including health and education," he said.

Yechury also said that there is a nominal seven per cent rise in the government's capital expenditure.

"This comes at a time when the government estimated the nominal GDP as 14.5 per cent. So, as a percentage of GDP, capital expenditure has actually declined.

"A proper progressive taxation could have helped us garner resources to invest, build our infra, generate jobs, boost domestic demand and revive the economy," he said.

Commenting on the strain on the state and Centre relations, the CPI(M) leader alleged that fiscal federalism is now under severe attack.

"GST compensation to states was given in terms of loans being facilitated for the states to take. Now, they have put new conditions on the loans. The states cannot raise resources after GST. They are not allowed to borrow under the new conditionalities. So you have reduced the states to coming to the Centre with a begging bowl.

"Then you have what has been announced for Karnataka now, a huge allocation for them. It is very clear that the states where the BJP is in power get benefits and non-BJP state governments get squeezed. Thus, this will lead to a great strain in our polity," he said.

Asked what he would have done to revive the economy if he took on the job of finance minister, Yechury said that he would invest in building much-needed infrastructure.

"For building infrastructure crores of jobs would be required, so the youth which is going astray would be employed and once they start working and spending their wages then the domestic demand and economy will rise and closed MSMEs will reopen and the economy will get a boost," he said.