Question

Read the passage carefully to answer the questions that follow. Some of the words have been highlighted in bold to let you trace the words easily. The Union budget 2018 sounded more like an election manifesto. An election manifesto deals with promises for the future and at times, is also attributed as “election jumla”. There are two aspects of Budget 2018; one that gives direct and immediate benefit to the “haves” and the other that promises “chandamama” to the “have-nots”. Under the garb of encouraging Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, irrespective of their size, these immediate beneficiaries amount to 99 per cent of the companies filing returns. As a result of these tax benefits, the government will end up foregoing Rs 7,000 crore worth of tax revenue. Now, if we talk about the “have-nots” under healthcare, the National Health Protection Scheme promises five lakh insurance coverage to 50 crore people every year, which amounts to insurance to the value of 50 lakh crore per annum. The premium for the same, even at a minimal one per cent, could amount to Rs 50,000 crore per annum. This insurance scheme only covers hospitalisation and at present, only Rs 2,000 crore has been allocated for this. Given the current deficit of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, medical colleges, supply of medicines, this scheme sounds like a 20-year programme, if you start it now. The target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 also amounts to a “jumla”. In the last four years, farmer distress has increased insurmountably . In real terms, the farmers’ income and agriculture productivity has come down. The Economic Survey 2017 points to the fact that the average Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture of the last four years is merely 1.9 per cent. Given this, if farmers’ incomes have to be doubled by 2022, then you need a growth rate of at least 12 per cent per annum in agriculture, which seems highly unachievable.