'Action completed'!

Arun Shourie puts the Budget to the aam aadmi test and argues why the UPA fails miserably

The document is Implementation of Budget 2007-2008, and is one of the important documents that have been distributed with this year’s Budget. ‘In keeping with the endeavour of the Government of India to promote transparency and accountability,’ writes the Finance Minister, P. Chidambram, in his Foreword, the document has been compiled. It contains ‘the status of implementation of announcements’ that were made in the preceding Budget. ‘I am happy to place this brochure before the House,’ he writes.

The item for which those words appear in bold italics – it is one of the several items for which they appear in the same way – is ‘Mumbai as an International Centre.’

‘Action completed’? Has Mumbai become the International Financial Centre that the Government had said it would be made?

You will recall that over the last three years, three big announcements have been made for Mumbai – and each of them has been splashed across our papers in huge, bold headlines. Mumbai was inundated by a traumatic flood on 26 July, 2005. The Government announced a special package of Rs. 1,260 crore to ‘rejuvenate’ the Mithi river – this was to be one of the steps that would prevent that kind of a flood. Not one paisa has been disbursed since then.

Next, the Prime Minister announced that funds would be given to metamorphose Mumbai into another Shanghai. Not one paisa has been given since that announcement. A power-point presentation has indeed been made to the high-ups – it is a compilation of sundry projects that have been conceived and commenced by a succession of governments.

And then came the announcement that Mumbai would be made into an International Financial Centre. Another ‘special package’ was announced – to much fanfare: a ‘special package’ of Rs. one thousand crore. For months, my friend and colleague, Kirit Somaya tried to find out how much money has actually reached the Maharashtra Government. Nobody would tell him. But he is not the kind to give up. He filed an application under the Right to Information Act – just imagine the commitment of our governments to -- what was that expression of Chidambram? -- ‘transparency and accountability’ that to get to know how much they have given in their generosity for such a worthy cause, a citizen has to take recourse to the Right to Information Act! Kirit strained for two months. Eventually, he received the information in July 2007: the total amount that has been given by the Centre is Rs. sixteen crore sixteen lakh.

... contd.

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