NEW DELHI- The Selling of the Budget

The Selling of the Budget B M THE most arresting aspect of the presentation of the full and final budget this year has been the remarkably slick news-management that accompanied it. The radio and the media were pressed into service to emphasise that never before had such reliefs and concessions been given to the common man in a budget. It was not even mentioned in the first reports that the additional taxation in the budget was a hefty total of as much as Rs 440 crores in a full year. The entire attention was on the excise reductions on some items of consumption, among them tooth paste and sewing machines, which together amount to a paltry Rs 15 crores. The result was a build-up of euphoria about the budget which was extraordinary. It is interesting to see how on second thoughts and closer examination a more sober view of the budget is beginning to be taken.