CPM demands inclusive,growth-oriented budget

State secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said the Economic Survey 2011-12 of Himachal Pradesh has presented a disturbing picture of the state’s growth and asked Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to bring in a growth-oriented and inclusive budget.

Tikender Singh Panwar,member of the state secretariat of the party,said,“Due to neo-liberal policies,the growth rate in primary sector has been hit. This sector employs over 68 percent of the work force and nearly 90 percent of the people in rural areas. Over the years the government has withdrawn public investment in agriculture because of which the contribution of agriculture in State’s domestic product has decreased from 26.5 percent in 1990-91 to 17 percent in 2010-11. This does not show overall prosperity or shift from agriculture as a substantial population is still dependent on agriculture.”

He pointed to other worrisome facts like decrease in plan and capital expenditure from 7.47 per cent to 4.9 per cent and from 7.92 per cent to 4.23 per cent. “This means that there has been very little investment for the development of hydro-power and other capital intensive sectors. Simultaneously it proves the fact that there is little development of infrastructure and flagship schemes further denoting that all announcements with respect to developmental programmes made by the government in the past will actually never see the light of the day,” he added.