New Delhi: There is a need to come out of the mindset of excessive regulation and the baggage of socialism for reforms in the country, BJP leader Sushil Modi said in Rajya Sabha Wednesday, defending the budget proposals on disinvestment. He said the budget for 2021-22 will bring in reforms in the country and create huge employment opportunities with enhanced capital expenditure of Rs 5.54 lakh crore.
“We need to come out of this mindset of excessive regulation and excessive baggage of socialism. There was a time when excessive baggage of socialism established control on the entire economy. There is a need to come of this mindset,” Sushil Modi said in his maiden speech in the Upper House. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech had said that disinvestment process for the BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, BEML, Pawan Hans, Neelachal Ispat Nigam limited among others would be completed in 2021-22.
“Will taxpayers’ money be spent on businesses running in losses, on Air India? I would like to thank Narendra Modi ji. If any Prime Minister has presented a reformist budget after 1991, then the government of India has done it for 2021-22,” Sushil Modi said. He said that despite a revenue deficit, the government will make capital expenditure of Rs 5.54 lakh crore that will create employment opportunities and there is also a plan to spend Rs 100 lakh crore on infrastructure.
Prime Minister Modi had announced investment of around Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure projects and the details were shared by Sitharaman later. Sushil Modi said the government has not imposed any new taxes on the common man despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the government expects revenue of Rs 30,000 crore through cess imposed on petroleum products which will be spent in improving infrastructure of APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) and the money will flow to states. The former deputy chief minister of Bihar said the government spending on toilets, free cooking gas, electricity etc made the lockdown successful.
“Had there been no toilet in the houses of 10 crore poor, then you imagine people would have gone to the toilet inside their house or outside? Had the NDA government not taken electricity to every household and had there been no 24-hour power supply then time that was being spent on OTT platforms and Netflix could not have been possible,” Modi said. He added that the V-shaped economic recovery has been there after July and the economy will be on track soon.
