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Panel Discussion After this insightful session Mr. Ranade presented a broad perspective of the budget, interspersed with a dash of humor. According to him, overall, the budget has neither anything much to laud about nor many things to crib about. The reforms are right on track, although "the CMP is influenced by the CPM". Mr. Ranade explained that the low GDP of the country was on more account of low revenue than due to high expenses. Hence, he felt that although the Finance Minister's plan of covering the revenue deficit by 2008-2009 seems ambitious it is not unrealistic. Mr. Indrajit Gupta, an esteemed alumnus of SPJIMR, focused on the social development aspect of the budget. According to him, the emphasis on the basic necessities like infrastructure, education and water are steps in the right direction. These are the cornerstones of any developed nation. After these truly illuminating viewpoints, the stage was thrown open to the PGP participants as the panelists addressed their questions. And question they did. They provided insightful opinions and raised pertinent issues. In fact, the interesting "Open House" had to be cut short due to the time constraint. The event concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Mr. Venkatraman and the presentation of tokens to the panel. The BEA had begun the day with a poser to the audience, "If we bring thought and passion to our governance, and walk the path of honour and courage, we can make the future happen. And this century will be India's century. Are we moving towards this?" Going by the detailed analysis seen today, surely we are. Concluded. Contributed by - |
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