Union Budget: Long on Words and Short on Funds

The budget for 1999-2000 has ducked two basic problems requiring urgent attention: one, the immediate issue of an acute liquidity shortage and recessionary conditions faced by Indian industry and, the other, the longer-term question of social deprivation faced by a majority of the population which reflects the serious weaknesses of the pattern of development pursued so far and which is increasingly proving to be a major constraint in accelerating economic growth.