Take him at his word for a minute. If it is possible to be so confident on 14 and 17 March when he said as much to the two Houses of Parliament, why it could not have been said while announcing the waiver a fortnight earlier?

Here is Parliament being asked to approve a scheme of Rs. 60,000 crore with no inkling of where the money will come from, and, hence, with no idea of what its impact will be – on prices, on interest rates… Even of whom the waiver will benefit. Is this ‘accountability’? ‘Transparency’?

And this is just a typical omission.

The Sixth Pay Commission is to report soon. Given that election loom, the Government will certainly implement the pay hikes. The Fifth Pay Commission had increased emoluments by 35 per cent. There will be cascading effect for state governments, for municipalities, indeed for each and every institution even vaguely linked to the State machinery. There is no provision at all for this certain outlay in Chidambram’s Budget. When it is prudent to include Rs. 5,000 crore in the Railway Budget as the likely outflow on account of the Sixth Pay Commission increases, why is prudent not to make a provision for the same contingency in the General Budget?

Similarly, subsidies on petroleum products, on food and fertilizers are mentioned, but not included! The latter two alone are estimated to be over Rs. 63,000 crore. The Fiscal deficit is put at 1,33,287 crore in this Budget. Once you include the four items that have been left out – the loan waiver, the subsidies on petroleum, food and fertilizers -- plus the impact of the 6th Pay Commission, it is liable to be double the figure that has been indicated. Fiscal responsibility?

... contd.