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Budget 2006-07: Pro-Rich
Letters
Now, as a person looking for useable thoughts in Nanda’s argument to contain the evil effects of pseudo science, do I have leads for a road-map? She seems keen to put an end to generation and dissemination of intellectual interpretations that would support claims of modern rationality in knowledge produced by Vedic seers and their cohorts. Interestingly, Nanda’s illustrative list of people who have contributed to the production of such interpretations presents salesmen such as Baba Ramdeo and Deepak Chopra, philosophers such as Radhakrishnan and spiritualised scientists such as Fritjof Capra in the same gallery. Should I don a spiritual garb and wish them all away from modern Indian heritage? Should I lead a campaign to ensure that such knowledge should forever stop being produced in India? Should I join a crusade to prevent the next generation from exposure to the scientism of Mahesh Yogi and Vivekanand? I am afraid there is no negotiable road to those kind of goals. So, I need to ponder over what the Radhakrishnans and the Capras have to tell me. Or maybe I should enter a Kantian mould and have the courage to use my own reason. At the base of my education in science and scientific outlook, I need help to be able to distinguish between scientific rationality and what Nanda calls pseudo science or scientism. If my reasoning is armed with this facility, I do not need to fear any encounter with a Baba Ramdeo or a Capra. Indeed, I may discover that the apparent rubbish of Vedic scientism or mythological pseudo science contain within it sparks of post-Enlightenment reasoning that may be worth the attention of the children of Kantian modernity. I may also learn that scientific rationality, which should set limits for examination of religious or spiritual scientism, is itself limited by what modern science does not know and is therefore obliged to assume or imagine. I am told a lot of modern science has descended from scientific imagination to post-Enlightenment reasoning. If so, grant me the freedom to examine where and how spiritual reasoning (sans religious faith of the classic believer) can and should intersect with the spirit and discipline of the science of today and tomorrow. If the pure rationalist in Nanda is willing to open a window for such a view, it may be easier to combat the decidedly poisonous efforts by preachers and politicians to wear and sell vested interests in saffronised packages of modern science. Sapere aude. N R SHETH Ahmedabad Subscription (Rs) Six One Two Three months year years years Institutions – 1250 2300 3300 Individuals 500 935 1750 2500 Concessional Rates Teachers/Researchers – 685 – 1800 Students – 450 – – Concessional rates are available only in India. To avail of concessional rates, certificate from relevant institution is essential. Remittance by money order/bank draft preferred. Please add Rs 35 to outstation cheques towards bank collection charges. Institutions – 1500 – 4150 Individuals – 1250 – 3500 (US $) Air Mail Surface Mail Institutions 1yr 2yrs 3yrs 1yr 2yrs 3yrs Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh 80 150 200 65 120 175 Other countries 150 275 375 90 170 240 Individuals Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh 50 90 125 30 50 75 Other countries 100 175 240 65 120 170 All remittances to: Economic and Political Weekly Hitkari House, 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road,
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Director : S L Shetty Economic and Political Weekly March 25, 2006 (Continued from p 1146) scenario, a democratic government may be redefined as “for the corporates, of the corporates and by the corporates”. This is the impression one gets when the budget is studied. The finance minister, at the outset, has stated that his budget was bound to ensure growth, equity and social justice. Has he tried to keep to his promise? Has he properly used fiscal instruments to obtain this goal? Economic Survey 2005-06 states that savings by the corporate sector – reflecting the high retained earnings from their profits – grew steadily from 3.6 per cent in 2001-02 to 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2004-05 (Section 1.45). It recorded 24.9 per cent growth in 2004-05 itself (quick estimate). Section 1.43 of the Economic Survey reports that in 2004-05, household savings grew at 5.9 per cent – slower than the GDP growth rate – and made a negative contribution by coming down as a proportion of GDP. Section 1.46 also reports that private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) at current prices, as a proportion of GDP, fell successively from 64.6 per cent in 1999-2000 to 60.6 per cent in 2004-05. Among the various components of PFCE, the share of food, beverages and tobacco in total expenditure came down from 46.8 per cent in 2000-01 to 40.6 per cent in 2004-05. From this it is clear that household saving as well as household consumption expenditure have come down. This shows a worsening of the income and welfare of the average Indian. At the same time, corporate India has gained successively. When the average Indian is put under the yoke of the tax burden, corporates and high income brackets with higher potential go scot-free. There are, of course, a series of budget announcements and allocations, which are pro-poor, pro-unemployed and pro-rural. Bharat Nirman is a case in point. But many such programmes are already blunted and have not made a dent in alleviating endemic poverty. The new budget augurs well for growth, but not for equity and social justice. MARY GEORGE Thiruvananthapuram Here are some guidelines fortake up to six to eight months from the address, day-time phone numbers andauthors who wish to make date of acceptance to appear in the email address. submissions to the journal. EPW. Every effort will, however, be made (The email address of writers in the Special to ensure early publication. Papers with Article, Commentary and Discussion immediate relevance for policy would be sections will be published at the end ofEPW welcomes original research papers in considered for early publication. Please the article.) any of the social sciences. note that this is a matter of editorial * Authors are requested to prepare their * Articles must be no more than 8,000 judgment. soft copy versions in text formats. PDF versions are not accepted by the EPW. Authors are encouraged to use UK Englishprocessed. EPW invites short contributions to the spellings (Writers using MS Word or paper has appeared earlier in a different on occasion considered for publication. changes/additions, deletions of version, we would appreciate a copy of references, minor changes, etc, as this this along with the submitted paper. poses challenges in processing. Readers of EPW are encouraged to send comments and suggestions (300-400 words) immediately on receipt with a reference * Graphs and charts prepared in MS * All submissions will be acknowledged Office (Word/Excel) or equivalent software on published articles to the Letters column. number. Quoting the reference numberare preferable to material prepared in All letters should have the writer’s full name in inquiries will help. jpeg or other formats. * Every effort is taken to complete early and postal address. * EPW posts all published articles on its web processing of the papers we receive. site and may reproduce them on CDs. Since we receive more than 35 articles Address for communication: EPW encourages researchers to comment every week and adequate time has to be Economic and Political Weekly, on Special Articles. Submissions should be provided for internal reading and external Hitkari House, 1,000 to 2,000 words. refereeing. It can take up to four 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road,
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MBudget 2006-07:Pro-Rich
I(Continued on p 1216)
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