Budget for 2014-15

[vgane]

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Aam Aadmi and the budget!

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Big salute to ‘one rank, one pension’ scheme The Hindu

The allotment of Rs. 1,000 crore for implementing ‘One Rank, One Pension’ (OROP) scheme for armed personnel in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday has elicited a thumbs up from retired armed forces men. OROP took a long time coming and it will bring justice to scores of armed forces personnel struggling with meagre pensions.

The decision to implement OROP scheme was first announced by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. In the UPA interim budget in February this year, Mr. Chidambaram also allocated Rs. 500 crore. However, much to the disappointment of services personnel and thanks to bureaucratic delays, the actual implementation of the scheme got delayed.

“All over India, the armed forces personnel, especially those who retired, were demanding one rank, one pension scheme for the past seven years. The government has finally brought some closure to this issue by allocating Rs. 1,000 crore. This scheme will definitely bring uniformity in pay scales,” said Sainik Welfare Officer, Hyderabad district, Praveen Kumar.

Read more at: Big salute to ?one rank, one pension? scheme - The Hindu

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Budget 2014: Rs 200 crore allocated for Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity - THE ECONOMIC TIMES

NEW DELHI: The budget sets aside Rs200 crore for Modi's dream project — the Statue of Unity — his tribute to Sardar Patel, that according to him, will stand tall and force the world to look at India.

In October 2013, Modi had announced the construction of 182-metre tall statue of Sardar Patel at Sadhu Bet, an island located 3 km from Sardar Sarovar dam and launched a trust headed by himself to look after the project. To be built under a PPP model, it is estimated to cost Rs 2,063 crore. It will be completed in three phases in four years and twice as tall as the iconic Statue of Liberty.


Read more at : Budget 2014: Rs 200 crore allocated for Sardar Patel?s Statue of Unity - The Economic Times

 

[prasad1]

In a country grappling with poverty, sluggish growth and a daunting deficit, India's new budget has set aside 2 billion rupees ($33 million) for a colossal iron-and-bronze statue almost twice the size of the Statue of Liberty.

 

[prasad1]

Arun Jaitley's maiden budget is like Chidambaram's with a saffron lipstick: Swaminathan Aiyar
By Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, ET Bureau
It's not a radical Modi budget but a Chidambaram budget with saffron lipstick added. Many of Arun Jaitley's budget figures and policies resemble those in Chidambaram's interim budget. Many thought Jaitley's maiden budget would produce a major vision for five years, major reforms and some bitter medicine.


Sorry, there was no great fiscal vision, only minor reform, and sugar-coated pills rather than bitter ones. Instead of being long on vision, the budget speech was long in duration.





Read more at:
Arun Jaitley's maiden budget is like Chidambaram's with a saffron lipstick: Swaminathan Aiyar - The Economic Times

 

[prasad1]

Budget 2014: Rs 200 crore allocated for Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity - THE ECONOMIC TIMES

NEW DELHI: The budget sets aside Rs200 crore for Modi's dream project — the Statue of Unity — his tribute to Sardar Patel, that according to him, will stand tall and force the world to look at India.

In October 2013, Modi had announced the construction of 182-metre tall statue of Sardar Patel at Sadhu Bet, an island located 3 km from Sardar Sarovar dam and launched a trust headed by himself to look after the project. To be built under a PPP model, it is estimated to cost Rs 2,063 crore. It will be completed in three phases in four years and twice as tall as the iconic Statue of Liberty.


Read more at : Budget 2014: Rs 200 crore allocated for Sardar Patel?s Statue of Unity - The Economic Times

In December last, Modi had flagged off about 1,000 trucks carrying thousands of empty kits for soil, and had urged farmers in all states to donate iron equipment to make the statue. But later considering the quality of the iron material collected, it was decided to not use them for the main statue.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

‘Statue of Unity’ – this monument, a fitting tribute to the one of the founding fathers of Republic of India, a 182-metre-tall statue of ‘Iron Man’ Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, will be the world’s tallest structure and this will be double the height of the Statue of Liberty in the U.S and five times taller than the Brazilian attraction, Christ the Redeemer, in Rio de Janeiro.

It is reported that this monument is planned to be erected at Sadhu Bet directly facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam – also named after Sardar Patel – on Narmadha river near Bharuch in Gujarat.

Our leaders seem to have some passion for erecting statues.

While Mayawati was Chief Minister of U.P., larger-than-life statues were commissioned by her as memorials dedicated to her mentor. 130 statues of huge elephants were placed in parks in Noida and Lucknow during her tenure. Her party's symbol is the elephant.

In Chennai we have too many statues of great leaders, poets, etc and the only thing is they are not maintained properly. One can see most of these statues with stain of bird's droppings and are not cleaned and spruced up periodically.

 

[Brahmanyan]

Budget for 2014-15 - Money spent on Statue of Sardar Patel.

I am not against Statue of Sardar Patel. But I wonder why it should be a "world's tallest structure". Spending a huge sum of money over this statue does not benefit any one. Instead the Government could have spent this money to build a huge research institution, or University to educate free of charge to the deserving student. DMK built the statue of Tiruvalluvar at Kanyakumari, the place has no relevance to the great Poet. Statues should have some aesthetic value or of historical importance. Most of the statues of Political leaders erected all over India do not have either.

Perhaps the best I have seen is the equestrian Statue of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj in Mumbai.

Here also political competition has started with Government of Maharashtra planning to erect tallest (190 m)in the world equestrian Statue of Shivaji Maharaj spending not less than Rs.1,000/- crores in Marine Drive facing the Arabian Sea !

Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

 

[sarang]

1. Patel is an important builder of modern India. So convoluted justification is not necessary.
2. Govt is bearing only a small portion of the cost. Private funding is available.
3. Why always this argument? This money can be spent on education or charity or research etc. Money can be found for both, it must always be 'and' and not 'or'.
4. If one has the vision and imagination and capacity to build a world class monument, why object. Patel was a towering personality, a tall statue does him justice.
5. Thinking big is in our culture, Tanjore temple gopuram is a reminder of elevated thinking by our kings.

 

[prasad1]

Budget for 2014-15 - Money spent on Statue of Sardar Patel.

I am not against Statue of Sardar Patel. But I wonder why it should be a "world's tallest structure". Spending a huge sum of money over this statue does not benefit any one. Instead the Government could have spent this money to build a huge research institution, or University to educate free of charge to the deserving student. DMK built the statue of Tiruvalluvar at Kanyakumari, the place has no relevance to the great Poet. Statues should have some aesthetic value or of historical importance. Most of the statues of Political leaders erected all over India do not have either.

Perhaps the best I have seen is the equestrian Statue of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj in Mumbai.

Here also political competition has started with Government of Maharashtra planning to erect tallest (190 m)in the world equestrian Statue of Shivaji Maharaj spending not less than Rs.1,000/- crores in Marine Drive facing the Arabian Sea !

Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

I agree with your post. It seems colossal waste. It is as much of a waste as Ambani House, at least that was his private money on which he had paid taxes. This monstrosity is being built by Taxpayer money (it is in the federal Budget).

 

[prasad1]

Why not achieve two goals with one monument.
World's highest railway bridge constructed in India

Name it Sardar Patel Bridge and not waste $33 M on a statue.

 

[sarang]

 

[prasad1]

There has been outrage on social media after finance minister Arun Jaitley allotted Rs 200 crore in the budget to erect a statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. Critics complain that matters that should be more important to a nation — like education of young girls and women’s safety — have been apportioned lesser amounts than this.
While this is true, critics fail to realise that Sardar Patel is part of the new iconography sought to be created by BJP. From their point of view, no amount is too much for this purpose. By present estimates the statue project will cost a staggering $338 million.
The internet site of the project makes clear what it is all about. Billing Sardar Patel’s statue as “the Statue of Unity — Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat”, it subtly underlines the BJP’s concept of cultural nationalism of one nation, one people and one culture. Though unstated, Narendra Modi clearly wants Indians to compare the Statue of Unity with the Statue of Liberty.

 

[prasad1]

The budget’s ecological bankruptcy
ASHISH KOTHARI

The NDA’s first budget has thrown a few sops in the direction of the environment and the millions dependent on it. But much like its predecessors, in painting the big picture it remains embarrassingly devoid of innovative ideas on how to move India towards ecological sustainability and justice


“While 2015 will be a landmark year for sustainable development and climate change policy, 2014 is the last chance for all stakeholders to introspect to be able to wisely choose the world they want post 2015.”


These are significant words, contained as they are in the government of India’s Economic Survey 2013-14. The reference is to the framing of a new set of sustainable development goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) that all countries agreed to in 2000 (due to end in 2015), and to a possible new climate agreement to be framed in 2015. The Economic Survey was released a day before Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the first annual budget of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).


So, does the rest of the survey and the budget reflect such introspection? Are the new power-holders in New Delhi any wiser about protecting the interests of the next generation while meeting the needs of the present? Or indeed about how several hundred million people of the present generation, who are directly dependant on nature and natural resources, can have more secure livelihoods?



(Ashish Kothari is with Kalpavriksh, Pune.)
The budget?s ecological bankruptcy - The Hindu