"Dream" is what makes a common man live in this world, a world full of unprecedented surprises…
I am an "aam aadmi" of this nation.
As a child I dream to get my basic education...
As an adult I dream to get a job and work for this country…
As a "old man" I would like to retire and live a comfortable life…
Everybody in this country has some or the other expectations including the very basic needs of the life. But isn't there a system which will make one realize at least some of these dreams...
I think the answer to this is lies in the one of the most important event in the economic and financial world .i.e. the "Union Budget".
What is the Budget?
Budget is a summary of intended expenditures along with proposals for how to meet them. It contains the government of India's revenue and expenditure for a particular fiscal year. It also provides guidelines for managing future investments and expenses.
What impact does the Budget have on the common man or the economy and what should we expect in Budget2008 ?
Well it almost impacts each and every one of us as well as every sector of the economy. However I would like to touch upon some of the key areas here:
As an adult I dream to get a job and work for this country…
As a "old man" I would like to retire and live a comfortable life…
Everybody in this country has some or the other expectations including the very basic needs of the life. But isn't there a system which will make one realize at least some of these dreams...
I think the answer to this is lies in the one of the most important event in the economic and financial world .i.e. the "Union Budget".
What is the Budget?
Budget is a summary of intended expenditures along with proposals for how to meet them. It contains the government of India's revenue and expenditure for a particular fiscal year. It also provides guidelines for managing future investments and expenses.
What impact does the Budget have on the common man or the economy and what should we expect in Budget2008 ?
Well it almost impacts each and every one of us as well as every sector of the economy. However I would like to touch upon some of the key areas here:
Education:
I think education is a key to the success of any society. For a country with more than a billion population we have a great potential to become the knowledge capital of this world .However we still have lot of challenges around this. We are still struggling to increase the literacy rate in many of the states (currently at 65-70%) . The primary education is still a concern for a lot of children, most of which, are the victims to child labor. At each level the curriculum and syllabus is still a concern. The poor and the middle class still struggle to pay for the fees at various levels of education. “Brain Drain” is still a concern.
I think education is a key to the success of any society. For a country with more than a billion population we have a great potential to become the knowledge capital of this world .However we still have lot of challenges around this. We are still struggling to increase the literacy rate in many of the states (currently at 65-70%) . The primary education is still a concern for a lot of children, most of which, are the victims to child labor. At each level the curriculum and syllabus is still a concern. The poor and the middle class still struggle to pay for the fees at various levels of education. “Brain Drain” is still a concern.
But I think converting these challenges into opportunities depend on how fast we adapt to the changing environment & implement the much needed educational reforms. The budget should address all these challenges.
The government should encourage primary education and should concentrate on making education reach to every child in this country. The govt. should also focus on improving the infrastructure of many of the govt. institutes and should implement policies/schemes so that the poor/middle class of this nation is able to get the quality education at all levels. IIT’s and IIM’s should be allowed to start multiple campuses anywhere in India with or without private partners who bring in finance and other expertise.
Increased expenditure towards education reforms has to be one of the key expectations from this budget. Ultimately the objective of the education is to replace an empty mind with an open one and make the society a better place to live.
Agriculture:
With the agriculture sector growing at rate around 3-4% it is still a laggard as compared to the other sectors of the economy. A large part of Indian population still derive their livelihood directly from agriculture. A success of an agriculture season is still defined by the monsoon . All this make us believe that agriculture does play an important role in the growth of the economy.To make it really count the govt. should focus on increasing the agricultural productivity ,increasing the rural credit for the farmers, encourage investments in the agriculture sector thereby making agriculture a cornerstone of the Indian economy.
Inflation & Growth:
The prices of essential commodities are sky rocketing and this is affecting the life of "aam aadmi".With inflation at 6% what really one can do ?
Just to mention few....I think keeping the demand in mind if we really focus on the supply side of the equation and try to address the deficiencies we will be able to manage inflation in much more effective way. Just to give an example if we improve the Public distribution system in place & encourage agriculture to meet the demand we can really manage the prices of essential commodities.
The Budget should aim at moderating the inflation without affecting growth of the economy ( just look at China which is growing at 11% with just under 2% inflation).
Agriculture:
With the agriculture sector growing at rate around 3-4% it is still a laggard as compared to the other sectors of the economy. A large part of Indian population still derive their livelihood directly from agriculture. A success of an agriculture season is still defined by the monsoon . All this make us believe that agriculture does play an important role in the growth of the economy.To make it really count the govt. should focus on increasing the agricultural productivity ,increasing the rural credit for the farmers, encourage investments in the agriculture sector thereby making agriculture a cornerstone of the Indian economy.
Inflation & Growth:
The prices of essential commodities are sky rocketing and this is affecting the life of "aam aadmi".With inflation at 6% what really one can do ?
Just to mention few....I think keeping the demand in mind if we really focus on the supply side of the equation and try to address the deficiencies we will be able to manage inflation in much more effective way. Just to give an example if we improve the Public distribution system in place & encourage agriculture to meet the demand we can really manage the prices of essential commodities.
The Budget should aim at moderating the inflation without affecting growth of the economy ( just look at China which is growing at 11% with just under 2% inflation).
All in all I wish Mr. Chidambaram should put his thinking cap on and orchestrate a successful budget by taking necessary actions to meet the expectations .
At the end I hope that an "aam aadmi" of this nation should be able to live up to his dreams...
Note:The above blog is also available @ http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/1500/contest/view.html
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