Giving his reaction to the Union Government’s budget of 2005-06, Comrade Nihar Mukherjee, General Secretary, SUCI, in course of a statement said that :

As expected, the Congress-led UPA Government backed by the CPI(M) and the CPI has presented a budget for 2005-06 which under a populist cloak has been a subtle attempt to sidetrack and divert people’s attention from the burning economic problems tormenting the life of the common people. Under coaxing words and verbiages as well as cunning cover of operation, the mounting problems of unemployment and sky rocketing prices of essential commodities – the main scourges haunting the people of the whole country – remain totally unaddressed. Instead of assuming any direct responsibility for creating more jobs by initiating bold scheme of industrialization under the aegis of the Government and rolling out a realistic plan to check the soaring price line, everything has been left to the whims and fancies of the market players – the national and foreign monopolists, capitalists and big business. As evident from the budget announcements Government’s policy to gradually withdraw from the sphere of direct economic activities and hand over them to the domestic and foreign monopoly houses for intensifying their ruthless exploitation has been more pronounced, while the process of globalization-liberalization-privatization has been in a swift camouflaged manner given further momentum.

Under the circumstances the people of the country have nothing to hope from this budget. On the contrary, to combat the suffering and exploitation that is bound to become more acute and unbearable, they have no other alternative but to rely upon powerful democratic movement.

On Railway Budget, 2005

Reacting to the railway budget of 2005-06, Comrade Nihar Mukherjee, General Secretary, SUCI, in a statement said that notwithstanding the mesmerizing exercise to present an apparently people’s friendly budget, what has actually come out is a deceptive exercise which on the one hand encourages the process of privatization and on the other deliberately ignores the development and expansion activities, more particularly in the backward areas of the country. The measures enunciated in the name of rationalization of freight charges, are bound to escalate the prices of essential commodities including foodgrains. The urgent need of improving fast declining passenger service and ensuring safety of the passengers in the context of increasing number of railway accidents and rampant train docoities have been completely overlooked.